Torrential rain brought by powerful Typhoon Talas, which made landfall Saturday and was the deadliest in seven years, caused rivers to swell and triggered floods and landslides that swept away buildings, homes and roads.

More than 50 people were still missing, local authorities contacted by AFP said.

As police, firefighters and self-defence force troops continued their painstaking search for the missing, local authorities were planning to air-drop more food and water to those isolated by the disaster.

In severely affected Wakayama, about 4,500 people remained stranded in communities that could not be reached due to collapsed roads, according to a local official.

In Totsukawa village in Nara, more than 400 people were stranded in evacuation shelters as access routes have mostly been cut off and phone lines were down in most parts of the village, a local official said.

AFP