11 dead, 3 missing after Typhoon Lionrock batters Japan

An aerial view shows a damaged home for the elderly caused by a flood triggered by Typhoon Lionrock, where local media say nine bodies were found, in Iwaizumi town, Iwate prefecture, Japan, Aug 31, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The town of Minamifurano in Hokkaido logged 500 mm of precipitation, the weather agency said, marking a new record for the region, and 350 people were stranded in the town after a levee collapsed as a result of the storm.

Three people remained missing in the wake of the typhoon, which caused the issuance of more than 400,000 evacuation advisories in the Tohoku area, with one of the missing believed to be driving his car when it plunged into a river. Ten people have been injured across four prefectures in the north, according to the latest reports, with local officials believing the number will likely rise.

The typhoon disrupted major transportation networks as of Tuesday night, with more than 100 flights scheduled to and from airports in Tohoku and Hokkaido cancelled, as well as ferry services in the east and northeast regions of the country.

The typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm as it made its way out to the Sea of Japan on Tuesday evening, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

Lionrock was the 10th typhoon of the season and the first one since record keeping began to make landfall from the Pacific in the Tohoku region.

The JMA has issued alerts for people in the affected areas for more rivers bursting their banks, flooding, high waves and mudslides, and has also warned of the possibility of lightning strikes and tornados due to continued unable atmospheric conditions in the region.