U.S. airmen were swept away by typhoon Phanfone off the coast of northern Okinawa, Japan on Sunday.
The strong storm in the country which mainly struck the regions of Okinawa and Kyushu reportedly brought a large portion of the population to temporary shelters. An estimated number of 400,000 are reportedly affected of the catastrophe. Before the city could return to its normal operation and deliver services to the people, a search operation is still being pushed after two members of the American Air Force are still missing in the sea while one of them was reportedly killed.
The island of Okinawa actually serves as a base for the 25,000 American troops. On Sunday, officials of the force have confirmed that one of the U.S. airmen swept away by the strong typhoon at around 3:35 p.m. was killed. According to reports, the Air Force did not confirm what those men were doing prior to the incident, but other report from a Japanese newspaper stated that an Okinawan police said that they were taking photographs of the large wave before the incident happened.
Search operation for the two U.S. airmen swept away on Sunday was halted due to the complicated efforts brought by the typhoon before it resume on Monday. Other search operations including that of the Mount Ontake, the site of japan volcano's sudden explosion on Sept. 27 was also halted. According to the USA Today report, the Japan Meteorological Agency already warned that Phanfone could bring as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain per hour in the Tohoku region even after moving offshore Monday.
The agency also said that typhoon Phanfone is packed with winds as strong as 104 mph which pounded Okinawa and Kyushu. Aside from the U.S. airmen swept away by the storm, it also caused several power outages that affected about 9,500 homes in Kyushu.
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