Super typhoon Vongfong

This comment is from Robert Jefferson who is on the ground and well-qualified to comment:

Hi everyone, I'm the journalist mention above by Robin. I work at NHK and am here I the newsroom of NHK World TV as I write this.

This latest typhoon was huge. Now that it's made landfall, first over Okinawa, now over southwestern Japan it has lost some of its power. It's dropped buckets of rain so far and the damage in its wake could be extensive; we'll have to wait and see.

The last forecast I saw has it moving west-northwest with trailing arms bringing rain to the Tokyo Metro area and further northeast to Fukushima.

It could very well change course and head east toward Fukushima. It's being taken very seriously here; NHK even book a hotel for me tomorrow (Monday) just to make sure I'm at work on Tuesday morning.

And keep in mind, there are still 50 nuclear power plants (idled) across Japan, some of which are in the path of this typhoon!

Robin, thank you for your posts, your concern and your effort.

It is very difficult to find accurate up-to-date information and even Jeff Masters' latest post is a couple of days old. Landfall is tomorrow.

We still have one person saying that the ENENews piece is a piece of 'fear-mongering'. We shall see – maybe. Last week's typhoon and its effect on Fukushima simply wasn't reported. When I asked Robert did not know what was happening at Fukushima.

I'm not sure what to think but I am not making any predictions, except for one - if Fukushima is hit by a powerful typhoon we are unlikely to hear about it.

Update on typhoon Vongfong

Typhoon winds up to 110 mph to hit Fukushima Daiichi, storm surge advisory issued — Nearly all gov’t forecasts show eye passing right over plant — Nuclear Expert: Expect radioactive material washing into Pacific

October 12th, 2014

Japan Meteorological Agency forecast for Typhoon Vongfong, Oct. 12, 2014 at 6:50a UTC:

Forecast tracks show the center of Typhoon Vongfong over Fukushima Daiichi on Tuesday morning Oct. 14 (Japan, U.S., Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and ensemble), Oct. 12, 2014:

DW, Oct. 10, 2014: Is Fukushima capable of withstanding a super typhoon?… Vongfong is expected… just days after [Japan] was struck by another typhoon… strong winds… landslides … floods… storm surge… [Is] Fukushima… braced for the impact of a super typhoon?

Michael Maqua, nuclear expert: “Expect radioactive isotopes… transported into the groundwater or the sea… The main risk of the typhoon is the intrusion of rain water… mainly [at] reactor 3… rain water will [likely] mix with the contaminated water in the basements of the reactor buildings and thus more radioactivity could be washed to the sea.”

See also this - http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/700hPa/orthographic=-231.75,29.79,829