Almost 10,000 in Northeast Japan Recommended to Evacuate Amid Rains Alert

As many as 9,900 people in the Japanese northeastern Iwate prefecture on the Honshu island were recommended to evacuate as rainstorms are expected to hit the region, the local authorities said on Thursday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — The heavy rains, expected to hit the region Friday night, come with the typhoon Malou, the 13th in the country this year and the fifth in two weeks.

The previous Lionrock typhoon inflicted a serious damage on the region, with power outages affecting 83,000 households in the northern part of the Honshu island.

At least 17 people died in floods caused by the heavy rains in the Iwate prefecture as of Thursday. In total, 19 people in the prefecture were affected by the Malou typhoon, another six people went missing.