Typhoon nearing Japan's Izu island chain, heavy rain alert issued

A typhoon continued to move almost parallel to Japan's Pacific coast from west to east on Saturday, the weather agency said, issuing a heavy rain alert for parts of the Izu island chain south of Tokyo and warning of mudslides as persistent downpours might have saturated the soil in the region.Typhoon Chan-hom, the season's 14th, is expected to come closest to the south of the Izu Islands by Sunday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.Rainfall of up to 300 millimeters is projected for the island chain, the northernmost part of which is located about 100 kilometers south of Tokyo, in…READ FULL ARTICLE