Photo/Illutration Towering waves hit a lighthouse in the Ohata district of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on the morning of Aug. 10. (Takunori Yasuda)

Hokkaido and the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan were drenched in heavy downpours on Aug. 10 by the remnants of Typhoon No. 9, prompting an evacuation order for one town and a village being cut off by landslides.

As the typhoon continued moving northward, it turned into a low pressure system, bringing record rainfall to some areas. 

The highest evacuation warning, or level 5, was issued for part of Shichinohe, a town in Aomori Prefecture, on Aug. 10 as torrential rains caused a river to overflow its banks there. The warning covers 225 residents of 96 households.

About 700 residents in the village of Kazamaura in the prefecture are feared stranded as landslides occurred at several locations along National Route 279, which passes through the village, according to the prefectural government.

In Mutsu in the prefecture, a bridge over the Koakagawa river collapsed.

In Hakodate on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, the rainfall totaled 289.5 millimeters for the 24 hours through 9 a.m. on Aug. 10, a record for the city, which began collecting such data in 2003.

It stood at 226.5 mm for Fudai, a village in Iwate Prefecture, and 167 mm for Hiranai, a town in Aomori Prefecture, a record for August.

East Japan Railway Co. said service was suspended between Kuji and Hashikami stations on the Hachinohe Line for the entire day.

The low pressure system is forecast to move away from Japan after it passes through the Tohoku region on Aug. 10.

The Japan Meteorological Agency is forecasting rainfall for the 24 hours through 6 a.m. on Aug. 11 to total 200 mm for Hokkaido, 180 mm for the Hokuriku region and 150 mm for the Tohoku region.

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