A powerful typhoon Roke forced Toyota to halt production at 11 of its 15 plants in Japan. The affected Toyota plants are all in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, which sits in the expected path of Typhoon Roke. Toyota’s remaining four plants in Japan are in Hokkaido, Tohoku and Kyushu, and are not expected to be affected by the storm. At 12 noon Wednesday, the storm was off the Kii Peninsula in central Wakayama Prefecture, a region hit badly by Typhoon Talas earlier this month, the deadliest storm Japan has seen since 1979. Talas triggered landslides and dumped heavy rain in the area, raising fears that the downpours expected Wednesday could further weaken already fragile land.
Roke is expected to make landfall in the Kanto area during the afternoon before moving northeast, possibly toward Fukushima and the nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.