A once-a-decade behemoth of a typhoon is bearing down on Japan, charging across the Pacific Ocean with its sights set on Tokyo. Already the storm has snarled travel and shipping and has sent power officials in Japan hurrying to undertake emergency precautions at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Typhoon Wipha is expected to make landfall during the Wednesday morning rush hour, likely pounding the world's largest metropolitan area, home to more than 35 million people, with gusting gales, floods and harsh rains. Japan's weather agency warned people to be ready to evacuate if need be and to avoid travel if possible. Wipha is the most aggressive storm to get close to eastern Japan since October 2004, when a cyclone triggered floods and landslide that killed almost 100 people. Meanwhile Tuesday, the utility that operates the Fukushima plant was planning to secure machinery at the plant and pump out and inspect the rainwater expected to land in protective containers around its tanks of radioactive water.
