Powerful typhoon hits Japan

A powerful typhoon hit disaster-ravaged Japan on Wednesday, with at least six people already dead. Typhoon Roke made landfall on Wednesday afternoon, tracking across the main island of Honshu, and is on course to hit Fukushima prefecture, where work is continuing to bring a crippled nuclear plant under control after an earthquake and tsunami in March. There are concerns that torrential rain could force pools of radioactive water at the Fukushima facility to overflow into the sea or groundwater. More than a million people have been warned to evacuate their homes. Many warnings were later downgraded but some 330,000 people remain at risk. The country's major factories have been shut down over safety concerns. It is the second time in less than a month that Japan has been hit by a storm. Typhoon Talas lashed central and western Japan recently, killing around 100 people.