Windstorm Coverage in Japan

Japan is not only a well-known earthquake prone country, but also a land very liable to damage by windstorm, flood, tidal wave and highwater. Especially, it is visited every year by typhoons or tropical cyclones. These occur during the period from early summer to autumn with accompanying heavy rains, and severe damage is often suffered. Most of the serious disasters result from the following causes.a) Flood from a rapid small river in mountainous areas or landslide occurring there.b) Innundation of a large plain area caused by the collapse of embankments following heavy rain.c) Highwater or tidal wave in a harbour or a bay, which is often caused by the visit of a typhoon particularly at full tide.Generally speaking, damage by the wind is much less in severity than that by flood, tidal wave or highwater.These natural calamities occur every year, but the extent of the damage differs greatly from year to year. Taking an example of the damage to buildings and contents during 10 years from 1965 to 1974, the largest annual damage estimated for the whole country was ¥ 161.875 million (approx. U.S. $ 578 million), the smallest ¥ 9.398 million (approx. U.S. $ 33,6 million) and the average ¥ 58.561 million (approx. U.S. $ 209 million). (These are the original figures not adjusted for inflation. Also, they do not include the damage to outdoor objects such as roads, bridges, railways, communication facilities, electricity facilities and farms). The greatest windstorm damage in recent years was brought about by the “Bay of Ise Typhoon†in September 1959, at which 153.893 buildings were lost or seriously damaged, 5.101 persons were killed or went missing and 2.430 ships were lost.