TOKYO -- Typhoon Holly sputtered down to tropical-storm status today and headed up the northern Japanese coast, but not before killing at least one person and leaving nine others missing.
Eleven people were injured in six western Japanese provinces, officials said.
Downgraded to tropical-storm force but still packing winds of up to 56 mph, Holly roared across the Sea of Japan toward Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, early today, weather forecasters said.
'The typhoon is heading for Hokkaido, but it still is too early to determine if it will land on the island,' a spokesman for the government's Meteorological Agency said.
Japan's National Police Agency said one person drowned when he was washed away in high waves in the Nagasaki district of southern Japan.
In South Korea, Holly left nine people missing before it moved into the Sea of Japan early today, according to the Central Weather Bureau.
The swirling storm dumped torrential rains averaging 6 inches on the southern and eastern coasts Tuesday, causing property damage estimated at $1 million.
Nine people were missing in floods and landslides caused by Holly, the first typhoon to hit South Korea this year, the officials said.
Holly, the 10th typhoon spawned over the Pacific this year, buffeted remote Pacific islands, including Okinawa, and southwestern Japan, with torrential downpours and heavy winds, triggering landslides and disrupting air and sea service.
Two people were injured in Aichi Province, central Japan, Wednesday when howling winds toppled a tree. Nine other people were injured in Okinawa and the western provinces of Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, police said.
