THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 2, 2021 at 17:35 JST
MAKINOHARA, Shizuoka Prefecture--A tornado slammed into Shizuoka Prefecture on the night of May 1 stripping homes of roof tiles, knocking down utility poles and leaving three people injured, local authorities said.
More than 10 structures were partially damaged or destroyed.
In Makinohara, a city of 45,000 people in the central part of the prefecture, several utility poles were toppled, 10 or so vehicles lay overturned, numerous roof tiles lay scattered and glass from windows of homes shattered, city officials and other sources said.
A family of two took refuge in a city-run community hall after their house was blown down.
Shizuoka prefectural police and other local authorities received a flurry of calls about a tornado from residents from around 6:30 p.m. after the weather abruptly changed.
Chubu Electric Power Co., which serves Shizuoka and nearby prefectures, said about 4,000 households in Makinohara and other municipalities, including Kikugawa and Omaezaki, experienced power outages.
A woman in her 70s who lived in the Nunohikihara district of Makinohara, which bore the brunt of damage, said she heard a deafening sound shortly after 7 p.m.
A neighbor contacted her around 10 p.m. to report that a log measuring 15 centimeters across had pierced the roof of her home.
“I have never experienced something like this before,” the woman said.
Another resident in the district said he and his family were out when the tornado struck.
He hurried home after his parents, who live in the neighborhood, called to say his house was damaged.
The man, a 47-year-old company employee, said windows on the second floor of his home shattered, allowing howling wind gusts to pass through and knock over furniture.
“We do not have one room decent enough to sleep in tonight,” the man said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tornado alerts for Shizuoka Prefecture on May 1, first for the Izu region, and later expanded it to other regions.
Atmospheric instability was observed across wider areas of western and northern Japan that day as warm, moist air moved toward a low-pressure system with an unseasonably cold air mass forming over the Japanese archipelago.
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Buildings with parts of their roofs blown away in Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 2 after a tornado the day before (Takayuki Kakuno)
