The casualty toll from Typhoon Megi reached at least 18 dead or missing in Japan and South Korea Friday as the storm ploughed over northern Japan, bringing strong winds and heavy rain, officials said.
In Japan 11 people were dead and one missing after strong winds and high waves claimed two more lives, officials said.
In South Korea, Megi had left four people dead and two missing while flooding more than 1,500 houses, forcing some 2,400 people to evacuate, officials said. Yonhap news agency put the figure at eight dead or missing. Megi, the 15th typhoon of the season, moved northeast up the Sea of Japan between Japan and Korea this week, lashing the countries with its storm system although it did not make landfall.
It curved back in late Thursday and crossed over the northern tip of Japan's main island Honshu from west to east, to be over the Pacific Ocean early Friday. Japan's Meteorological Agency expected it to be downgraded to a tropical storm later Friday.
Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency warned of wind speeds around 90kph hour in northern Japan.
On the southern tip of the northernmost island of Hokkaido, 227 millimeters of rain fell in the 24 hours to 9:00 am (0000 GMT), it said. The typhoon had prompted authorities in Japan to recommend the evacuation of some 5,100 people in the west of the country, but by Friday the warning had been lifted for all but about 350.
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