Photo/Illutration Huge waves crash onto National Road No. 135 in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, due to the synergetic effect of Typhoon No. 19 and high tide in the afternoon of Oct. 12. (Satoru Iizuka)

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced at around 7 p.m on Oct. 12 that massive Typhoon No. 19 made landfall in the Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, and issued its highest emergency Level 5 rain warning as residents braced for the worst of the powerful storm.

The typhoon brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to a wide part of the Kanto, Tokai and Koshin regions.

The JMA issued a warning to residents to be on the alert for flooding rivers, landslides and high waves along the coast.

The agency said Typhoon No. 19 was expected to cut across the Kanto region and move to the Pacific Ocean southeast of Hokkaido by the evening of Oct. 13, when it is expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression.

The agency forecast 24-hour rainfall amounts until midnight of Oct. 12 of 800 millimeters for the Tokai region, 500 mm for the Kanto, Koshin and Hokuriku regions and 400 mm for the Izu chain and the Tohoku region.

Strong winds were expected over a wide area, including the Sea of Japan coast of the main Honshu island.

Winds as strong as 162 kph, gusting to 216 kph, were expected in the Tokai, Kanto and Koshin regions, while winds up to 126 kph, gusting to 180 kph, were forecast for the Tohoku region.

At 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, the JMA issued its highest warning calling on residents of seven prefectures to take action to protect their lives.

Record amounts of rain fell on the prefectures of Shizuoka, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama, Gunma, Yamanashi and Nagano. That led the JMA to issue the highest warning it has in connection with heavy rainfall for the most affected municipalities in those prefectures.

A Level 4 warning means residents of the affected areas should evacuate immediately, but the Level 5 warning means that a disaster is already under way and that residents should do everything they can to ensure their safety.

Several areas of the Kanto region had record rainfall for a three-hour period in October. The special warning has until now never been issued for the Tokai region, which includes Shizuoka Prefecture.

Several areas covered by the special warning had record rainfall over a 24-hour period until 11 a.m. on Oct. 12. The Yugashima district of Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, had 468 millimeters of rain, while Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, recorded 452.5 mm, both records for October.

Meanwhile, according to TEPCO Power Grid Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Co., as of noon on Oct. 12, 4,400 households in Chiba Prefecture, about 1,000 households in Ibaraki Prefecture, about 800 households in Yamanashi Prefecture, about 700 households in Kanagawa Prefecture and about 200 households in Saitama and Shizuoka prefectures were without power.