At least nine elderly people have been found dead at a nursing home in Japan as heavy overnight rain from a devastating Typhoon left towns flooded across the country's north.

Police discovered the bodies in the town of Iwaizumi while checking another facility in the flooded area.

Takehiro Hayashijiri, an official at the Iwate prefecture disaster management division, said the home was for people with dementia.

Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed a helicopter hovering over the building as rescuers tried to pluck other stranded residents to safety.

Media reports said the building was reserved for people with dementia and another 86 elderly residents and employees were in another facility building at the time.

Footage showed the nursing home partially buried in mud, surrounded by debris apparently washed down from the mountains. A car by the home was turned upside down.

The death toll from the powerful storm rose to 11 after an elderly woman was found dead in her flooded home nearby, and another body was discovered not far from the nursing home, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

'We're making a government-wide effort to assess the extent of damage,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

The government sent the Self-Defense Force, Japan's military, to help in the rescue and cleanup effort.

Further north, on the island of Hokkaido, at least two rivers broke through their banks.

The embankments gave way early on Wednesday morning, NHK said, quoting Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism.

Authorities in the town of Minami-furano reported many people trapped in houses and shelters by flooding from the Sorachi river, NHK said.

The typhoon, with winds of over 100 miles an hour when it made landfall, also caused flooding on the northern island of Hokkaido.

The typhoon was later reclassified as an extratropical cyclone and moved out into the Sea of Japan at midnight, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The full scale of damage, however, did not become apparent until daybreak when rescue operations began in earnest.

In Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, one person who had been inside a car was missing in the town of Taiki, police and government officials said.

At least three cars fell into rivers in other towns on the island after bridges collapsed, they said, stressing it was not known how many people were inside the vehicles.

'In Minamifurano town, the water level is still very high with a current, and rescue workers are using helicopters now to try to evacuate several people who are left on the roofs of their houses or their cars,' said Hokkaido official Terumi Kohan.

Lionrock's path -- hitting northeastern Japan from the Pacific Ocean -- was unusual.

Typhoons usually approach Japan from the south and southwest before moving northward across the archipelago.

Up to eight centimetres (three inches) of rain per hour fell overnight and authorities had warned of flooding and landslides.

The typhoon's landfall came at high tide, which exacerbated the flow of water.

Lionrock comes on the heels of two other typhoons that hit Japan in the past nine days, resulting in two deaths, the cancellation of hundreds of domestic flights and disruptions to train services.

As of noon Wednesday it had combined with another similar storm in the Sea of Japan and was near the North Korea-China border, said Eiju Takahashi, an official at Japan's weather agency.

The scene of large parts of northern Japan covered with muddy water was a shocking reminder of the major tsunami that struck the same region five years ago.

Iwate prefecture, the hardest-hit by the typhoon, is one of the areas still rebuilding from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, which left more than 18,000 people dead along Japan's northeastern coast. </s> KURASHIKI, Japan: Unprecedented rains that have killed at least 69 people also stranded 1,850 in the western Japanese city of Kurashiki on Sunday, including about 130 at a hospital, with rescuers using helicopters and boats after rivers surged over their banks.

Kurashiki, with a population of just under 500,000, has been hit hardest by the torrential rains that pounded some parts of western Japan, causing the highest death toll since 2014.

Scores of patients, some still in their pyjamas, and nurses were rescued from the isolated Mabi Memorial Hospital in boats rowed by members of Japan's Self Defence Forces.

"I'm most grateful to rescuers," said Shigeyuki Asano, a 79-year-old patient who spent a night without electricity or water.

"I feel so relieved that I am now liberated from such a bad-smelling, dark place," said Asano.

A city official said 170 patients and workers had been evacuated from the hospital and another 130 people, including 70 patients, were waiting to be rescued.

Television footage showed a massive rescue operation, with some 1,850 people isolated in the city, according to public broadcaster NHK. Kyodo news reported that most people had been rescued in the city by 1400 JST (0500 GMT)

The overall death toll from the rains in Japan rose to at least 69 on Sunday after floodwaters forced several million people from their homes, media reports and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The death toll is the highest caused by water disasters since 2014 when 77 people were killed in heavy rain which set off landslides in Hiroshima in western Japan.

Another 61 were missing, NHK said, and more rain was set to hit some areas for at least another day.

The rain set off landslides and flooded rivers, trapping many people in their houses or on rooftops.

"We've never experienced this kind of rain before," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) told a news conference. "This is a situation of extreme danger".

Among the missing was a 9-year-old boy believed trapped in his house by a landslide that killed at least three others, including a man in his 80s.

"All I have is what I'm wearing," a rescued woman clutching a toy poodle told NHK. "We had fled to the second floor but then the water rose more, so we went up to the third floor".

Japan's government set up an emergency management centre at the prime minister's office and some 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched across a wide swath of southwestern and western Japan.

"There are still many people missing and others in need of help, we are working against time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

Emergency warnings for severe rain had been lifted by evening, but there were still advisories for heavy rain and landslides.

Evacuation orders stayed in place for nearly 2 million people and another 2.3 million were advised to evacuate, although rain had stopped and floodwaters receded in some areas.

Landslide warnings were issued in more than a quarter of Japan's prefectures.

The rain began late last week as the remnants of a typhoon fed into a seasonal rainy front, with humid, warm air from the Pacific making it still more active - a pattern similar to one that set off flooding in southwestern Japan exactly a year ago that killed dozens. The front then remained in one place for an unusually long time, the JMA said.

Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan. Shinkansen bullet train services resumed on a limited schedule after they were suspended on Friday.

Automakers including Mazda Motor Corp and Daihatsu Motor Co suspended operations at several plants on Saturday due to a shortage of parts or dangerous conditions. They were to decide later on Sunday on plans for the coming week.

Electronics maker Panasonic Corp said one plant in Okayama, western Japan, could not be reached due to road closures, although it had been closed for the weekend anyway. A decision about next week would be made on Monday, it said.

While the Japanese government monitors weather conditions closely and issues warnings from an early stage, the fact that much of the country outside major cities is mountainous and building takes place on virtually every bit of usable land leaves it vulnerable to disasters. </s> Story highlights At least nine people reported dead as storm passes over Japan's main island

Flooding, at least one missing on northern island of Hokkaido

Tokyo (CNN) Nine bodies were found in a home for the elderly in the town of Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture, which suffered flooding following Typhoon Lionrock, police tell CNN.

Rescue operations are underway to rescue 400 people who are stranded due to flooding and landslides, according to a statement by the town's prefecture disaster prevention office.

Over 1,100 people were evacuated from their homes and are taking shelter in public facilities across Iwaizumi, the statement says.

Prefectural officials confirmed that nine bodies were found in the Ran Ran retirement home after the nearby Omoto river broke its banks. Police are working to identify the bodies.

Another home for the elderly, Friendly Iwaizumi, avoided casualties as staff were able to move residents to the second floor of the building and avoid the floodwaters. Ran Ran is a single-storey structure.

Read More </s> Nine people killed in flooded Japanese old people's home

TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Nine people were killed when floods inundated an old people's home in Japan, police said on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a typhoon battering northern parts of the country to at least 11.

Police found nine bodies on Wednesday in the nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi, in Iwate Prefecture in the north of Japan's main island of Honshu, but it was not clear when their home was flooded.

It was also not clear why people there had not been taken to safety before the storm struck. The nursing home is located near a river and was partially buried in mud and debris when the river overflowed its banks.

"The area is in a state of chaos. We are not sure what preparations the facility had taken," said a prefectural government official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The town issued evacuation preparation information on Tuesday morning, which is to inform elderly or disabled people who take time to evacuate. That, however, was not as strong as an evacuation warning, according to another prefecture official.

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

The body of a man was also found near a river in Iwaizumi and a dead woman was found in Kuji city, police said.

Television pictures showed flooded rivers with cars and homes partly submerged, while rescuers picked up stranded people by helicopter.

Several people were also missing on the northern island of Hokkaido, police said.

Iwate, the worst-hit prefecture, was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Robert Birsel and Paul Tait) </s> At least 9 dead as typhoon hits northern Japan

TOKYO (AP) — At least nine elderly people were killed when their nursing home was flooded in northern Japan after Typhoon Lionrock dumped heavy rains on the area.

The bodies of all nine residents were found at a nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi in Iwate prefecture, when police were checking another facility in the flooded neighborhood, said Takehiro Hayashijiri, an official at a prefectural disaster management division.

Hayashijiri said identity of the bodies or other details, including whereabouts of their caretakers, were not known. NHK said the nursing home was for the residents with dementia.

Waves crash against a coast in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. A typhoon is about to barrel into northern Japan, threatening to bring floods to an area still recovering from the 2011 tsunami. Typhoon Lionrock has already paralyzed traffic, caused blackouts and prompted officials to urge residents to evacuate.(Jun Hirata/Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's NHK national broadcaster said authorities have found two more bodies in another town in Iwate.

Its footage showed the nursing home partially buried in mud, surrounded by debris apparently washed down from the mountains. A car by the home was turned upside down.

"We're making a government-wide effort to assess the extent of damage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

The government sent Self-Defense Forces to help in the rescue and cleanup of the damage caused by the typhoon.

At least two rivers swollen by the typhoon broke through their banks, flooding areas in northern Japan.

The embankments gave way before dawn on Wednesday on the northern island of Hokkaid, said NHK, quoting Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism.

Authorities in the town of Minami-furano are reporting many people trapped in houses and shelters by flooding from the Sorachi river, NHK said.

Aerial photos from Kyodo News service also showed serious flooding south of Hokkaido in Iwate prefecture on Honshu, Japan's main island.

Typhoon Lionrock slammed into northern Japan on Tuesday evening, hitting an area still recovering from the 2011 tsunami.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said at least three people were injured in three northern prefectures — Aomori, Akita and Miyagi since Tuesday.

It made landfall near the city of Ofunato, 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of Tokyo late Tuesday before moving away from Japan. It's the first time a typhoon has made landfall in the northern region since 1951, when the Japan Meteorological Agency started keeping records.

More than 170,000 people were subject to evacuation, including 38,000 in Ofunato, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. More than 10,000 homes in the northern region were without electricity, with power lines damaged from the winds.

The scene of large parts of northern Japan covered with muddy water was a shocking reminder of the tsunami disaster that struck the region five years ago.

Iwate, hardest-hit by the typhoon, is one of the areas still recovering from the tsunami damage.

The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami left more than 18,000 people dead in the wide swaths of Japan's northern coast, including 340 in Ofunato. </s> Nine people killed in flooded Japanese old people's home

TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Floods have inundated an old people's home in Japan killing nine people, police said on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a typhoon battering northern parts of the country to at least 11.

Police found the nine bodies in the nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi on Wednesday but it was not clear when their home was inundated.

Nor was it clear why people there had not been taken to safety before the storm struck.

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

The body of a man was found near a river in Iwaizumi and a dead woman was found in Kuji city, police said.

Television showed pictures of flooded rivers with cars and homes partly submerged while rescuers picked up stranded people by helicopter.

The worst-hit Iwate prefecture was devastated by a big earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Several people were missing on the northern island of Hokkaido, police said. </s> Nine people were killed when floods hit an old people’s home in Japan, police said on Wednesday, taking the death toll from a typhoon battering northern parts of the country to at least 11.

Police found nine bodies on Wednesday in the nursing home in the town of Iwaizumi, in Iwate Prefecture in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, but it was not clear when their home was flooded.

It was also not clear why people there had not been taken to safety before the storm struck. The nursing home is located near a river and was partially buried in mud and debris when the river overflowed its banks.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the home was for people with dementia.

“The area is in a state of chaos. We are not sure what preparations the facility had taken,” said a prefectural government official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The town issued evacuation preparation information on Tuesday morning, which is to inform elderly or disabled people who take time to evacuate. That, however, was not as strong as an evacuation warning, according to another prefecture official.

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

The body of a man was also found near a river in Iwaizumi and a dead woman was found in Kuji city, police said.

Further north, on the island of Hokkaido, at least two rivers broke through their banks. The fire and disaster management agency said at least one person went missing while driving or riding in a car that went down with a bridge torn away by the flood.

Authorities in the town of Minamifurano reported hundreds of people trapped in houses and shelters by flooding from the Sorachi river, the agency said.

Hundreds of other people were also trapped in buildings and isolated in several towns in Iwate. Typhoon Lionrock made landfall on Tuesday evening near the city of Ofunato, 310 miles north east of Tokyo on the Pacific coast and crossed the main island of Honshu before heading out to the Sea of Japan.

It was the first time a typhoon had made landfall in the northern region since 1951, when the Japan Meteorological Agency started keeping records. Iwate prefecture, the hardest-hit by the typhoon, is one of the areas still rebuilding from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, which left more than 18,000 people dead along Japan’s north-eastern coast. </s> Troops were working Thursday to rescue families left stranded by flooding in southern Japan triggered by heavy rains. A 93-year-old man was found dead and several people were unaccounted for in flooding that wrecked homes, roads and rice terraces.

At least four people were unaccounted for and three were injured as of early Thursday, according to authorities in Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu.

Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week.

The man who died was likely swept away by flooding, police said. His body was found Wednesday washed up in Asakita in Hiroshima prefecture, which is on the main island of Honshu.

Television footage showed rice fields and homes flooded after a river swollen by the rains overflowed its banks, dragging vehicles into the riverbed and destroying dozens of buildings as well as roads and bridges. Soldiers could be seen gingerly walking through flood waters, carrying an elderly man to safety, and evacuating families using inflatable boats.

Rivers also flooded in nearby Oita, Ryutaro Fukui, a crisis management official in the city of Hita, told public broadcaster NHK.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said Fukuoka and Oita were experiencing unprecedented amounts of rain.

Tens of thousands of people were instructed to evacuate though only a fraction of those advised to leave actually did, according to the local disaster management agency’s website. It said 1,700 people had sought refuge in schools and other public facilities in Fukuoka as of early Thursday. </s> At least 85 people have died and 58 are unaccounted for as torrential rains continued to batter parts of western Japan on Sunday, causing landslides and flooding and forcing millions of people from their homes, local media reported.

Television footage showed bridges and cars washed away by raging rivers and floodwaters, with people perched on the roofs of their homes, surrounded by water and awaiting rescue.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency had issued rare “emergency warnings” against landslides, rising rivers, strong winds and lightning strikes caused by what it called “historic” rains in 23 prefectures across the western and central parts of the country. The rains began Thursday and continued into Sunday in many areas.

Such warnings are issued in anticipation of the sort of extreme conditions that occur just once or twice in 50 years, Kyodo News reported.

“There are still many people missing and others in need of help. We are working against time,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday morning.

More than 1.6 million people were ordered to evacuate their homes, while 3.1 million were put on high alert and urged to do so. Nevertheless, Kyodo said, many had remained at home.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 54,000 police officers, firefighters, and members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and coast guard had been mobilized in the rescue effort, Kyodo reported, with TV footage showing them using boats and helicopters to bring people to safety.

Public broadcaster NHK said flooding and landslides were hindering rescue efforts and repeatedly urged people not to lose hope.

Among the dead was a 3-year-old girl whose home was hit by a landslide in Hiroshima prefecture, Reuters reported.

“It’s very painful,” one elderly man watching nearby said. “I have a granddaughter the same age. If it were her, I wouldn’t be able to stop crying.”

Two sisters from an elementary school with just six students on the small island of Nuwa in Ehime prefecture also died, according to Reuters. The younger, a first-grader, was a star and the hope of the depopulated island, the principal told NHK.

The western Hiroshima prefecture was hit the hardest by landslides, which claimed 37 lives, while 21 people died in Ehime, NHK reported.

In August 2014, 77 people died in Hiroshima when torrential rain triggered massive landslides, but one resident told Kyodo that the rains were heavier this time.

Auto manufacturers Mitsubishi and Mazda were forced to halt production at some factories because they could not get parts or did not want to force employees to travel to work in dangerous conditions, Kyodo reported.

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.
At least two rivers break embankments, causing floods on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Operations are underway to rescue 400 stranded people. On Honshu Island, at least 11 people, including nine elderly from a nursing home, have died.