Nine elderly people die in nursing home as typhoon Lionrock hits Japan

TOKYO-Typhoon Lionrock was set to make landfall in northern Japan later Tuesday, bringing heavy rains, high waves and strong winds to areas devastated by the 2011 quake and tsunami.

Nine people died in Japan’s Iwaizumi town on Wednesday after their nursing home got inundated because of heavy rain triggered by typhoon Lionrock, reported AP.

NHK reported that at the Iwate Prefecture where the nine bodies were found, the Omotogawa river swelled rapidly when typhoon rains hit the area.

Footage showed the nursing home partially buried in mud, surrounded by debris apparently washed down from the mountains.

However no casualties have been noted, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference. The government sent troops to help in the rescue and cleanup.

Wide swathes inland remained flooded Wednesday, meanwhile, inJapan’s north, the weather agency said, as parts of Iwate and the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido saw rainfall reach more than 300 mm since Monday, surpassing the peak for the average seen in a single month in August.

Flooding was seen in Minami-Furano, a town near a popular ski resort in Hokkaido, after the Sorachi river burst its banks.

Typhoon Lionrock was 110 kilometers (68 miles) east of the city of Iwaki, as of 2 pm (0500 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The storm made landfall near Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Tuesday evening.

Police found the bodies when they were investigating flooding at a nearby facility, NHK said.

The fire and disaster management agency said at least one person went missing while driving or riding in a vehicle that went down with a bridge torn away by the flood.

More than 1,000 other people were forced from their homes by the flooding brought by Typhoon Lionrock.

The typhoon has hit an area that in northern Japan was still recovering from the tsunami in 2011.

At the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, workers were trying to secure construction cranes and equipment ahead of expected violent winds, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said.

“Lionrock should cross the Sea of Japan by the end of the week and bring heavy rain to Russian maritime territory and northeastern China”.