MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Junko Ogura and Yoko Wakatsuki – “Tokyo (CNN) — The death toll from Talas, which swept across western Japan, has risen to 29, local authorities said Monday.

Another 56 people are missing, according to a tally of casualties compiled from various prefectural police.

The storm unleashed record rainfall that triggered landslides and flooding.

The Japan Meteorological Agency briefly classified the storm as a typhoon before it made landfall. But the Joint Typhoon Warning Center recorded the storm making landfall in Japan as a tropical storm.

‘I have been working for the prefectural office over 40 years, but this is the worst in my memory,’ said Tsutomu Furukawa of Wakayama prefecture. Wakayama is one of three prefectures on the mountainous Kii Peninsula, where damage from Talas was concentrated as the storm swept across the area on Saturday.

In the town of Nachi Katsuura in Wakayama, a river flooded into a residential area, and mudslides swallowed several homes, officials said.” Read more.