Many Deaths As Typhoon Passes

Press, Volume C, Issue 29621, 18 September 1961, Page 11

Many Deaths As Typhoon Passes

(NX. Press Association-Copyright) TOKYO, September 17. Typhoon “Nancy” left at least 143 dead, 46 missing and 2268 injured in its wake as it passed over northern Japan today, Reuter reported.

The ferocious typhoon today hit the Sea of Okhotsk and the northernmost islands of the Japanese archipelago. Some of the latest figures are from Hokkaido, the main north island. The heaviest single concentration of destruction was in Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto, where 50 people were killed Rescue teams used boats and barges to travel flooded city streets in search of storm victims

Rivers and canals overflowed and big office buildings were islands in a sea of muddy water, with rescue craft floating over submerged houses and cars.

The Associated Press reported that more casualties were expected from "Nancy," the worst typhoon in the Pacific this year. Central Japan bore the full fury of the storm. Winds of 109 miles an hour hit the area.

Fringe winds which lashed Kyushu in the south and Hokkaido in the north also caused extensive damage Property damage was estimated in the millions of dollars.

The Japanese Government immediately set up a disaster relief headquarters in Tokyo. The centre of the storm missed Tokyo.