Powerful Typhoon Chaba, packing winds of up to 144kph, pounded Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 30.
In Miyazaki prefecture, the typhoon killed an 82-year-old man and a 71-year-old man in different cities and slightly injured four people.
”The 82-year-old man was trying to cut up a tree mangled by the typhoon but strong winds blew him away from a stepladder,” said a police spokesperson in Miyazaki.
The 71-year-old died after falling from the roof of his house while trying to repair storm damage.
In neighbouring Kagoshima, two people were missing in a river.
About 40 troops were joining in a rescue operation.
Police in Kagoshima, 950km south-west of Tokyo, said the driver managed to escape after the car went in the river, but a passenger was trapped.
A stranger who was trying to rescue the trapped person is also missing.
Chaba, meaning hibiscus in Thai, was moving northeast at a speed of 35kph, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The typhoon has dumped 750mm of rain on Miyazaki since Sunday. The agency warned that the storm could drop 400mm to 700mm of rain in western Japan by Tuesday.
Fearing floods and mudslides, local authorities asked about 34 600 households in Kyushu and the smaller southern main island of Shikoku to leave their homes for schools and other public facilities, public broadcaster NHK said.
About 21 000 households also voluntarily evacuated and 300 households were flooded in Kyushu, NHK said.
The typhoon cut off electricity to 341 700 households, a spokesperson for Kyushu Electric said.
The storm forced the cancellation of 335 flights between Kyushu and Shikoku to other parts of Japan and disrupted sea and land traffic in the region, according to Kyodo News Service.
Last week, Typhoon Aere battered China, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, leaving more than 60 people dead in the region. At least 21 were still missing in Taiwan.
In China, Aere prompted more than half a million to evacuate. — Sapa-AFP