Narita, Chiba Pref. – Heavy rain from Typhoon Dujuan, the 25th storm of the year in the western Pacific, has caused breaches of embankments at Inbanuma, a major lake in Chiba Prefecture, severely damaging fish farms and warehouses for agricultural produce.

At the Tani Fish Farm, which grows nishikigoi ornamental carp and goldfish in the city of Narita near Inbanuma, most of its 100,000 fish were washed away.

Kenji Tani, 58, who heads the farm, said that when he returned from an overseas business trip Tuesday morning, the entire site was flooded to a height of about 1.5 meters. He could only approach the farm by boat.

With facilities and equipment submerged, the total damage should be “about ?1 billion,” Tani said. On Friday, the water finally receded, and the staff began cleaning the muddy facilities. “To be honest, we can’t see the future yet because we’ve just started (cleaning),” he said.

Most of the roughly 50,000 eels cultured by the Inbanuma fisheries cooperative in Narita are believed to have died or been swept away, resulting in a loss of hundreds of millions of yen. The disaster left large refrigerators overturned.

A nearby restaurant directly managed by the cooperative had been featured on a television program, leading to an increase in customers. The water has receded, but the restaurant is temporarily closed in the aftermath of the flooding.

“We’re sorry to our customers that we cannot serve our signature eel,” an employee in his 20s said.

At a warehouse rented by a group of farmers in Narita, rice producers carried out bags of rice soaked in water. None of about 1,000 bags of newly harvested rice stored in the warehouse are likely to be shipped, and the damage will be about ?15 million.

“This is the first time I’ve experienced such a flood,” said a farmer in his 80s who has been living in Narita for more than 50 years.

Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency is warning of another storm approaching Okinawa Prefecture.

Typhoon Surigae, the 26th storm of the year, was moving north-northeastward over the ocean about 160 kilometers south of Naha on Sunday, packing maximum sustained winds of 144 kph.

The agency warned people to remain vigilant against high waves and to take precautions against strong winds and heavy rain.?

From Monday through Thursday, Surigae is forecast to move east-northeastward over waters southeast of Okinawa and the Amami Islands, as well as over the seas south of western and eastern Japan.?