1st LD Writethru: Scores injured as powerful typhoon batters Japan's Pacific coast

Typhoon Malakas which twice made landfall in Japan earlier Tuesday before being downgraded to a tropical cyclone, tore a path up the Pacific coast during the day leaving at least two people missing and 42 people injured on its way towards the Kanto region, weather officials said Tuesday evening.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the powerful storm first made landfall in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southern tip of Japan's Kyushu island in the early hours of Tuesday morning and hit Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka in the Kansai region, in the afternoon, after which it moved in an east-northeasterly direction towards the Kanto region, which comprises the Tokyo metropolis area.

The storm brought heavy downpours, flooding and strong gusts to wide swathes of the country before being downgraded to an extra-tropical cyclone, with rainfall of more than 120 millimeters logged in southern Kyushu with the storm wreaking havoc on transportation networks in western and southwestern Japan, with some 200 domestic flights being grounded and railway services being canceled and highways being closed.

According to the latest reports from public broadcaster NHK, at least 42 people have been injured as a result of the typhoon and evacuation orders or advisories were issued to 690,000 people across western and southern Japan.

NHK reported that a young boy was swept away by a swollen river in Hyogo Prefecture, in the Kansai region of the country's main Honshu island while trying to retrieve a ball.

Local authorities also said that a fisherman was swept away in Nagano Prefecture, in the Chubu region of Honshu, while attempting to traverse a river.

In Miyazaki Prefecture in the southern Kyushu region of Japan, extensive flooding has been reported with local officials saying that rivers had burst their banks and coastal regions had experienced storm surges producing high waves.

Across both Miyazaki and neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture, around 246,000 homes had been left without electricity due to power outages caused by the storm, local officials said.

Cataclysmic scenes have been beamed across the nation by local broadcasters, including those of a bridge in Kagoshima being completely washed away, usually idyllic rivers turned into raging rapids, residential buildings including those housing senior citizens being completely flooded, and hazardous landslides blocking roads and threatening to engulf homes in low-lying regions hit by Malakas.

The typhoon caused gusts of up to 144 kph, the JMA said and registered an atmospheric pressure of 980 hectopascals at its center. Wind speeds peaking at 180 kph were expected through Wednesday, with advisories in place for landslides and further flooding, the weather agency also said.

Typhoon Malakas, the sixth typhoon to make landfall this year in Japan and the 16th of the season, could see rainfall reach 200 mm in Shikoku and on the Izu island chain, the weather agency also said, adding that the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo, could receive 150 mm of precipitation through Wednesday. Enditem