Typhoon Malakas hits southern Japan

TOKYO, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Typhoon Malakas, packing winds of 112 mph, struck southern Japan with destructive winds and flooding. Two people are missing and more than 30 injured.

The Category 3 storm made landfall on the island of Kyushu late Monday and was headed to the Kanto area by late Tuesday, the Japan Times reported.

Malakas had maximum sustained winds of 78 miles per hour with gusts to 112 mph, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The east coast of Kyushu was drenched. A 24-hour record rainfall total of 22 inches was reported in Miyazaki. The town of Takanabe had 4 inches in just one hour.

Across western Japan, more than 600,000 people were advised to leave their homes.

Because of the saturated ground, flooding is highly likely, as are landslides.

In central Japan, a man was washed away while crossing a river in the mountains and in western Japan, a 6-year-old boy was swept away while trying to recover a ball out of a river, according to NHK.

Transportation in the west and southwest of Japan was heavily affected, with 106 air flights canceled because of strong winds.

More than 114,000 homes lost power in Kyushu.

Malakas weakened to a tropical storm while crossing the islands. It is forecast by the Japan Meteorological Agency to weaken further by Wednesday to a tropical depression after it exits Japan and disintegrates over cool northern Pacific Ocean waters.

The agency said the typhoon was the sixth to make landfall this year in Japan.