Police found the bodies after rushing to the facility to rescue people who were trapped because of flooding caused by Typhoon Lionrock, public broadcaster NHK reported.
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“The nearby Omoto river flooded and lots of water mixed with mud, trees and rubble gushed into the building complex”, he said, adding that the nine people “were buried in mud inside the facility building”.
Typhoon Lionrock, a powerful and erratic tropical cyclone, hit Iwate Prefecture in Japan’s northern Tohoku region, particularly the towns of Iwaizumi and Ofunato, where the storm made landfall on Tuesday evening, triggering heavy rainfall, fierce winds and huge swells.
“The fourth typhoon to make landfall in Japan in 2016, Typhoon Lionrock made landfall at high tide, exacerbating storm surge and resulting in flooding in many coastal areas”. This footage, shot by a stormchaser along the coast of Iwaki, a city in Fukushima Prefecture south of Iwate, shows a glimpse of the stormy seas.
Prefectural officials confirmed that nine bodies were found in the Ran Ran retirement home after the nearby Omoto river broke its banks.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has so far confirmed that a total of 17 rivers of eight river systems in Hokkaido, Iwate and Amori prefectures burst their embankments or otherwise flooded.
It was the first typhoon to strike Tohoku from the Pacific since records began in 1951.
NASA satellite image shows Typhoon Lionrock moving towards Japan.
Twenty-four hours later, Typhoon Mindulle smashed into the southeast of Honshu, bringing torrential rain and risky winds to the east coast, including Tokyo and Yokohama.
An quake with a magnitude of 9 hit northeasten Japan which caused the disastrous tsunami which left nearly 16,000 dead, about 6000 injured and 2562 people missing.
Authorities found two more bodies in Iwate – one in the same town and the second in another town of Kuji, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Toyoto Motor Corporation reportedly suspended production at two factories, while Tokyo Electric Power Company reported that over 1,000 homes had lost power around Tokyo. In addition, more than 100 flights were cancelled in and out of the northern region of Honshu, and some bullet train services were discontinued, said the advisory from AIR.
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A typhoon with wind gusts up to 210 kilometres per hour is expected to make landfall in Japan Tuesday night local time, Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting unit reported Monday.
