Photo/Illutration Houses are inundated in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, on June 2. (Provided by ASA Kainan)

Typhoon No. 2 brought torrential downpours that battered the Pacific side of the country on June 2 and prompted heavy rain warnings for wide areas from western to eastern Japan through June 3.

At least 10 people have been injured by the storm, which has also disrupted railway operations.

The typhoon was moving east-northeastward over waters east of Amami city in Kagoshima Prefecture on the afternoon of June 2.

Linear rainbands, which cause extremely heavy rain over extended periods, had formed over Kochi Prefecture by 8:10 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

In the afternoon, linear rainbands had also formed over Wakayama, Nara, Mie, Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures.

Agency officials urged residents in those areas to take precautions against the rapidly increasing risk of landslides and flooding.

The highest evacuation alert for heavy rain was issued for four municipalities in Wakayama Prefecture: Kainan city, Kimino town, Kudoyama town and Hirogawa town.

The prefectural government said at 2:15 p.m. that the Kamenokawa river, which flows through Wakayama and Kainan cities, had breached its banks.

In Kainan city in the prefecture, the central area near JR Kainan Station was flooded, and some residential districts were inundated.

The city government said around 50 people were taking shelter in at least 10 of the 29 evacuation centers that were set up as of 1 p.m.

A landslide warning was issued in eastern Gifu Prefecture.

The Tokigawa river in the prefecture temporarily overflowed in Mizunami city, but no major damage has been reported.

The JMA said linear rainbands could develop in the Kanto-Koshin region from the night of June 2 to the following morning.

The typhoon as of 3 p.m. on June 2 had a central pressure of 980 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds of 83 kph near its center and maximum instantaneous gusts of 126 kph, according to the JMA.

The typhoon is expected to move northeastward over waters south of Japan and become an extratropical low-pressure system on June 3.

According to fire departments in Okinawa Prefecture, 10 people had been injured by the morning of June 2 mainly due to falls caused by strong winds of the approaching typhoon.

The typhoon has blown warm and moist air into a rain front over Japan’s main island of Honshu. Thunderstorms are expected over a wide area of the country through June 3.

For the 24-hour period until noon on June 3, the JMA forecasts as much as 250 millimeters of rain in the Kanto-Koshin, Tokai and Shikoku regions, 200 mm in the Kinki region, 150 mm in the Izu island chain, 130 mm in the Hokuriku region, and 100 mm in the Tohoku region.

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said operations on the Keiyo Line were suspended between Tokyo and Soga stations.

Services on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line were also suspended between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations.

The Kinki headquarters of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) said it suspended 88 trains, including the Thunderbird, Shirasagi, Super Hakuto and Kuroshio limited express trains, as of 10:25 a.m. on June 2.

In some parts of the Keihanshin and Wakayama areas, the number of train services was reduced from around noon, and the departure times of the last trains of the day were moved up. Operations were suspended on some sections of the Wakayama Line, Kakogawa Line and Sanin Line in the morning.

Train services will also be suspended for some sections of the Hokuriku Line, Nara Line, Kansai Line and Gakken-Toshi Line.

The land ministry said at noon on June 2 that 51 dams in the Chubu, Kansai, Shikoku and Hokuriku regions released water held in reservoirs to increase capacity before the heavy rain.

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