Photo/Illutration A building with its outer wall torn off in the Hosoe district of Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Sept. 5 (Provided by @tamitamo001)

A suspected tornado tore through central Shizuoka Prefecture on the afternoon of Sept. 5, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

In Makinohara city, reports flooded in of overturned cars, downed power poles and damaged buildings, while one local hospital was treating about 20 people for injuries believed to be caused by violent winds.

At a clinic in the city, Miyuki Oishi, 49, said that starting around noon, wind and rain battered the clinic’s windows from every direction.

“It was like being inside a car wash,” Oishi said. 

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced at 1:45 p.m. that powerful winds, likely a tornado, appeared to have struck central Shizuoka Prefecture.

Since the early afternoon, municipal governments in the prefecture started receiving numerous reports of damage apparently caused by the twister.

The JMA warned that there was an extremely high risk of similar tornadoes occurring in the Izu area, as well as the eastern and western portions of Shizuoka Prefecture.

In another announcement shortly after 3 p.m., the JMA reported that another suspected tornado had also hit the northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture.

The agency is urging the public to remain vigilant and seek shelter in a sturdy building if they see signs of an approaching storm cloud, thunder or sudden changes in the wind.

CHAOS IN SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE

Local governments and police in the affected areas scrambled to respond to the damage.

According to the city government of Makinohara, the powerful winds are believed to have hit the Hosoe district around 1 p.m.

The city set up a disaster response headquarters, warning residents through its public address system.

In the neighboring town of Yoshida, a disaster response headquarters was also established shortly after 12:30 p.m., and officials confirmed that a fire had broken out in the town just after 1 p.m.

Shizuoka prefectural police said it received many reports from Makinohara about overturned cars and toppled power poles.

The Makinohara Police Station responded to a call that reported, “Someone was cut by broken glass.”

By around 2 p.m., about 20 people had come to or been brought to Haibara General Hospital in the city with possible injuries from the storm.

A hospital representative said the facility lost power around 12:50 p.m. and is currently running on emergency generators.

AFTERMATH OF A SUSPECTED TWISTER

When the storm subsided after 1 p.m., Oishi drove home, about 1.5 kilometers away.

The road was littered with roof tiles that had been blown off houses, and a garbage station made of wire mesh about 2 meters tall was knocked over. Traffic lights were out due to a power outage, forcing Oishi to drive slowly.

Oishi noted that Makinohara is near the sea and is known for being a windy area.

Oishi recalled that a tornado had struck nearby a few years ago, but said, “I never thought my own neighborhood would end up in such a disastrous state.”

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