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>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 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>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>Heavy rain from Typhoon Lionrock flooded towns across Japan's north and left at least 11 people dead, most of them elderly residents at a nursing home who could not escape rising floodwaters, officials said on Wednesday.

The home in the town of Iwaizumi, which only had the ground floor, included people suffering from dementia who were in their 80s and 90s. Police discovered nine bodies there on Wednesday while checking another facility in the inundated neighbourhood.

As floodwaters rapidly rose on Tuesday night, all 85 elderly residents and staff at a three-story facility next door were rescued uninjured after evacuating to the top floor, said Iwate prefectural official Reiko Ouchi.

A caretaker at that facility notified the town office about their evacuation to the third floor, noting that the nine residents next door were stuck, NHK TV reported.

READ MORE: Typhoon hits site of 2011 tsunami in Japan

Ouchi said officials are looking into if and how town officials responded to the call. An evacuation order was not issued.

Hiroaki Sato, a senior official at the company that runs the nursing homes, said floodwater poured into the compound in a matter of 10 minutes, making it impossible for the nine elderly residents to escape. The water was at chest-high on Tuesday evening.

Despite earlier warnings of the approaching typhoon, only one of the eight staff was on overnight duty, Sato told Kyodo News, adding that a telephone line was cut off due to flooding and she could not reach police or firefighters.

"An overnight staff attended the residents, but in the end they all died, including one in (her) arms," Sato told nationally televised NHK news. "I'm so sorry we could not help any of the nine residents," he said, as he bowed deeply in apology, his teary voice trembling.

The identity of the victims and other details, including the whereabouts of their caretakers, were not immediately known, said Takehiro Hayashijiri, a prefecture disaster management division.

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.

Footage on NHK showed the nursing home partially buried in mud, surrounded by debris apparently washed down in the swollen river. A car by the home was turned upside down.

At another nursing home, a rescue helicopter was perched atop a flat roof, airlifting residents, each wrapped in a blanket and carried by their helpers.

"We're making a government-wide effort to assess the extent of damage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters. The government sent troops to help in the rescue and clean-up effort.

Farther north, on the island of Hokkaido, at least two rivers broke through their banks. The disaster management agency said at least one person went missing 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 others were also trapped in buildings and isolated in several towns in Iwate.

Typhoon Lionrock made landfall on Tuesday evening near the city of Ofunato, 500km northeast 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 the Japan Meteorological Agency started keeping records.

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>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.</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>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.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS - 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.</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>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.
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.