At least 6 dead in Japan as Typhoon Shanshan grinds on

TOKYO, Aug 31 - At least six people were dead as Typhoon Shanshan crept eastward through Japan on Saturday (Aug 31), drenching large areas with torrential rain, triggering landslide and flood warnings hundreds of kilometres from the storm's centre.

Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed homes with roofs partly sheered off while cars drove wheels-deep on flooded roads in the country's southwest. The storm made landfall in Kyushu on Thursday, bringing record levels of rainfall.

One person was missing and more than 100 have been injured, said Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency. More than 35,000 homes were without power in southern Kyushu's Kagoshima prefecture, according to Kyushu Electric.

Shanshan, centred in the Pacific Ocean some 480 km (300 miles) southwest of Tokyo at 12.50pm (0350 GMT), triggered heavy rain as far away as the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, despite being downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday. Winds were gusting up to 25 metres per second (90 kph, 55 mph).

Authorities have issued flood and landslide warnings around the country since the storm's arrival, halting air and rail services and shutting factories.

The storm is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression over the weekend but is expected to continue to bring heavy rain, NHK reported.

[[nid:699421]]