The death toll in Japan from Typhoon Dujuan swelled to 10 and four remained missing after a spell of heavy rain left hundreds of houses damaged.
A woman was confirmed dead in Kanagawa Prefecture while a man was found submerged, sitting in his vehicle in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, authorities said on Wednesday as they raced to find those missing.
Dujuan, which struck Japan in the middle of the Silver Week autumn holiday, was downgraded from typhoon to extratropical cyclone late on Tuesday after it moved away. It brought more than 20 inches of rain in eastern parts of Japan.
At least 22 people have been injured, with the local fire department continuing search and rescue operations at landslide sites, according to the latest update on Wednesday from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) said on Wednesday.
It said a total of around 659 buildings were completely or partially destroyed in the wake of the typhoon.
While most of the emergency safety measures and evacuation orders have been largely scaled back, authorities had urged more than 1.6 million people in and around Tokyo to evacuate at the peak of the disaster.
A 64-year-old woman in Yokosuka city of Kanagawa prefecture was pronounced dead after being pulled from her home hit by a mudslide.
Just a kilometre away, a couple in their 70s went missing after another landslide struck their home.
A 51-year-old in the worst-hit Chiba Prefecture died when he fell into a bamboo grove along with the heavy machinery he was operating to clear mud and debris from a road in the city.
The weather system that hit Japan saw rainfall reaching 832mm – the highest amount on record – within 48 hours through 1.30am on Tuesday in Oshima, part of Tokyo’s Izu island chain.
Some 325mm of rain was recorded in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward Rinkai area in the 48 hours on Tuesday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency had issued its highest-level landslide warning on Monday for several areas of the Izu Islands, including Oshima, as heavy rainfall overwhelmed the region.
As of 9.45am on Tuesday, nearly 48,320 households across Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures had lost electricity, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Grid.
The typhoon also caused severe air traffic disruptions, with nearly 400 flights cancelled on Monday on Tokyo’s busiest Haneda airport, according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware. At Narita Airport, the larger international hub in Chiba Prefecture, over 100 flights were canceled.
It also delayed prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s departure for New York on Monday night to attend the United Nations General Assembly’s opening session.
It also disrupted several major international events in Japan.
India and Japan’s T20I cricket match on Tuesday saw weather-related disruptions.
The Indian side had to abandon their practice session on Monday due to the heavy rain and rain shortened the match to five overs per side.
An annual music festival Rock in Japan cancelled the final day of the event on Monday, while the Tokyo Game Show, one of the world’s biggest video game conventions, culminated early.
The Asian Games, which are being hosted by Japan in the Tokai region, postponed an equestrian competition until Tuesday, according to its website.
