TOKYO (AFP) - The death toll from Typhoon Lionrock has risen to 17 in Japan, with several people still missing, and officials said on Sunday (Sept 4) a new storm threatens the country's south-west.

Two more deaths were confirmed on Sunday from the major typhoon which hit northern Japan last week, said an official in the hard-hit prefecture of Iwate.

The death toll is now 17, including the two confirmed on the northern main island of Hokkaido.

Now a new typhoon is bearing down on the country's main island of Kyushu in the southwest.

As of 4pm, Typhoon Namtheun was some 90km south-west of the city of Amakusa in western Kyushu, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The new storm is slowly moving northward with gusts of up to 126 kmh and bringing heavy rain, the agency said, warning of high seas, landslides and floods.

Namtheun is expected to hit northern Kyushu early Monday around high tide, the agency warned.

Lionrock landed on Japan's northern Pacific coast on Tuesday evening, dumping torrential rain over a wide area.

Overflowing rivers wreaked havoc, stranding many communities in the largely agricultural north.

The northern town of Iwaizumi in Iwate was the hardest hit. Nine people were buried inside a old people's home engulfed by a flooded river.

Before Lionrock, two typhoons had claimed at least two lives in Japan's northeast.

In 2013 a powerful typhoon that triggered massive landslides on Oshima island killed 40 people, while 82 died after a typhoon hit Japan in 2011. </s> The storm-battered town of Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture told all 9,947 residents to evacuate Sunday ahead of Typhoon Namtheum, which is expected to hit the area Tuesday.

The Self-Defense Forces used helicopters to help residents get to shelters as officials made efforts to prevent the town from being cut off again by a typhoon.

“We learned from the previous cases that damage is unpredictable,” said Iwaizumi Mayor Katsumi Date. “Even if it is ultimately unnecessary, I thought that we should act early on.”

Warnings were still in effect for strong winds and heavy rain as the death toll from Typhoon Lionrock, which struck Tohoku before rolling over Hokkaido just last week, rose to 15.

As of Sunday, Namtheun was heading north toward Kyushu, the Meteorological Agency said, noting that warnings for strong wind, heavy rain and floods had been issued for Kyushu.

The toll reached 15 after the body of a 57-year-old man was found in Iwaizumi, police and local government officials said.

Lionrock became the first typhoon to land on the Pacific coast of Tohoku last Tuesday, dumping torrential rain over a wide area. Overflowing rivers wreaked havoc, stranding many communities in the largely agricultural northeast.

Iwaizumi lost nine elderly people who were buried without warning in a care facility that was engulfed by floodwaters from a nearby river.

Days later, about 1,000 people still remain stranded in Iwate, a prefectural official said.

“We are dispatching helicopters to bring food and necessary items to the isolated areas,” the official said.

Lionrock was the third typhoon to strike the northeast in about 10 days.

The previous two caused at least two deaths. </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> The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads. </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> At least nine elderly people have been found dead at a nursing home in Japan after heavy overnight rain from Typhoon Lionrock flooded towns across the north of the country.

Police discovered the bodies in the town of Iwaizumi while checking another facility in the neighbourhood, said Takehiro Hayashijiri, an official at the Iwate prefecture disaster management division.

The identities of the victims and other details, including the whereabouts of their caretakers, were not known, Hayashijiri said. The Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the home was for people with dementia.

NHK also reported that authorities found two more bodies in another town in Iwate.

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

“We’re making a government-wide effort to assess the extent of damage,” the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said. The government sent the self-defence force, Japan’s military, to help in the rescue and cleanup effort.

Further north, on the island of Hokkaido, at least two rivers broke their banks. The embankments gave way early on Wednesday, NHK said, quoting Japan’s ministry of land, infrastructure and tourism.

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

Typhoon Lionrock made landfall on Tuesday evening near the city of Ofunato, 310 miles (500km) 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 has made landfall in the northern region since 1951, when Japan’s Meteorological Agency started keeping records.

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

Iwate prefecture, the area hit hardest by the typhoon, is one of the areas still rebuilding from the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake, which killed more than 18,000 people along the north-east coast. </s> Tokyo — The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported yesterday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu — the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands — after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 600 believed to still be cut off, according to Jiji Press.

Jiji and public broadcaster NHK reported the death toll had risen to 15 as more bodies were discovered.

The central government announced Friday an official death toll of seven with 22 people unaccounted for.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters to be ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out “SOS” for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimeters of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

“My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area, and I have absolutely no information about the situation there,” Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told Agence France-Presse Friday, referring to a district in the city.

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations. </s> The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, a government official said Saturday, as rescuers continued work to evacuate isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 500 believed to still be cut off, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters early Saturday that the death toll "rose to 15" and 16 people were still missing.

Local governments announced Friday that a total of eight people have died.

"The region is expected to see a localised heavy rain today," Suga said, advising local residents to gather information from the governments and media.

Separately, three women were found dead at the sea facing Saga prefecture, near the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, NHK said, adding that they were likely the victims of the heavy rain.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters and ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS" for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiancé decided to postpone Saturday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement. </s> The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported Saturday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 600 believed to still be cut off according to Jiji Press.

Jiji and public broadcaster NHK reported the death toll had risen to 15 as more bodies were discovered.

The central government announced Friday an official death toll of seven with 22 people unaccounted for.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters to be ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiancée decided to postpone Saturday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement.
The death toll in Japan from Typhoon Lionrock rises to 17 with several people still missing. Typhoon Namtheun is now threatening the main island of Kyushu.