Japan Typhoon Tokage

Houses are seen submerged in water in Toyooka, western Japan, Oct. 21, 2004. Japan's deadliest storm in more than a decade, Typhoon Tokage unleashed flash floods that washed away entire hillsides, killing up to 54 people before it veered east into the Pacific Ocean. It was the record eighth typhoon to hit the nation of islands in 2004.

Local residents stranded on the rooftops of houses wait for rescue in Takaoka, western Japan, Oct. 21, 2004, following the powerful Typhoon Tokage. Tokage, which means lizard in Japanese, is Japan's deadliest storm in more than a decade.

Rescue workers search for the missing through mud and debris caused by a mudslide in Tamano, western Japan Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004.

Japanese Coast Guard members help a crew member, center, aboard a training ship in Toyama port, western Japan, Oct. 21, 2004. The training ship bumped against breakwater due to strong winds, and stalled.

Isolated residents in Toyooka, western Japan are rescued by firefighters, Oct. 21, 2004.

A billow caused by Typhoon Tokage clashes against a seawall in a harbor in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Oct. 20, 2004.

A fishing boat sits on dike in Susami town, western Japan Oct. 21, 2004, after high waves hit the fishing port.

Local police investigate a report of a missing man in Kujukuri as a powerful typhoon approaches eastern Japan, Japan, Oct. 20, 2004.

Delivery trucks damaged by a strong wind are seen at a parking lot in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Oct. 9, 2004, as typhoon Ma-on, one of the most powerful storms to visit Japan, struck the nation's Pacific coastline with strong winds and heavy rains.

A man walks through the puddle caused by a powerful typhoon at Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, Oct. 9, 2004.

A railway employee using a bullhorn asks passengers to cancel their trips on super express bullet trains at Tokyo Railway Station, Oct. 9, 2004, as powerful typhoon Ma-on threatened to strike the central region of Japan's main island of Honshu.

Women run across a street in heavy rain caused by a powerful typhoon in Tokyo, Oct. 9, 2004.

A man helps to push a vehicle stranded on a flooded street in Tokyo during heavy rains caused by a typhoon, Oct. 9, 2004.