TOKYO (The Japan News/ANN) — The nation’s industries suffered major damage due to flooding and lingering supply chain disruptions caused by deadly Typhoon No. 19, which battered the country last weekend.

With large-scale natural disasters increasing, it is becoming urgent that companies review their business continuity plans in preparation for emergencies.

Automaker Subaru Corp. stopped operations at a plant in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, on Wednesday because parts suppliers suffered damage from flooding.

Subaru, hoping to resume the operations Oct. 25, expects production will be delayed for 10,000 vehicles.

Toyota Industries Corp. is suspending a plant in Takahama, Aichi Prefecture, from Wednesday.

At an industrial complex in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, factories of the Hitachi Ltd. group and Panasonic Corp. stopped after being inundated.

Panasonic forecasts that it will take at least two months to resume the suspended operations.

Heavy machinery maker IHI Corp. halted operations at a factory in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, until Friday due to water outages.

Manufacturers have bolstered business continuity planning, utilizing experiences from the March 2011 disaster and other natural disasters.

The extent of damage from the recent typhoon, however, highlighted the difficulty of making full preparations for disasters.

Securing alternative parts suppliers is a key part of such planning. But suppliers tend to be small businesses, and many such companies are slow to take disaster reduction measures.

A Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry survey in September showed only 28 percent of responding small companies said they have put together such plans or are working to do this.

At a press conference Friday, Chairman Akio Mimura expressed concerns, saying, “They should take this opportunity and think seriously about such planning.”

Typhoon No. 19 also damaged transportation infrastructure.

In Nagano Prefecture, 120 10-car Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet trains in a car center in the city of Nagano were damaged by flooding.

Hokuriku Shinkansen services will be fully resumed on Oct. 25 to connect Tokyo and Kanazawa. But the number of trains is expected to remain only 80 percent to 90 percent of the regular operations.

Meanwhile, operations at supermarket chains Ito-Yokado Co. and Aeon Retail Co. are already back to normal.

Major convenience store operators will gradually resume operations at the dozens of outlets whose operations are still suspended.