Typhoon Talas In Japan: 18 deaths, over 50 missing and half million evacuated.

Typhoon Talas killed at least 18 people and left more than 50 missing after hitting the western area of Japan.

Typhoon Talas came with heavy rain and winds of up to 68 mph after making landfall on Shikoku Island on Saturday.

Talas is the season’s 12th typhoon and is now moving slowly north across the Sea of Japan, according to the Japan’s Meteorological Agency Sunday statement.

The tropical storm Talas had crossed the southern Japanese island of Shikoku and the central part of the main island of Honshu early on Sunday.

But because of the storm’s slow speed, forecasters warned heavy rains and strong winds would continue, increasing the likelihood of more floods and landslides.

Almost 500,000 people in western and central Japan were issued with evacuation orders and advisories, according to Kyodo News agency.

The worst hit areas were in Nara and Wakayama prefectures, with homes swept away by flood waters and landslides.

In Wakayama prefecture, three homes were buried in a landslide and one woman who was rescued later died, four people remained missing and a 14-year old girl was saved from the debris, police said.

According to police, 10 people were dead and 32 people were missing.

In Nara Prefecture, local NHK TV said seven people were missing after their homes were swept away down a river.

According to police, among the dead was a woman who appeared to be in her 30s whose body was found in a river in Ehime prefecture on Shikoku.

In Nara prefecture, a 73-year-old man died after a landslide caused his house to collapse.

TV footage showed a bridge swept away after intense rainfall, which swelled a normally placid river to a raging brown torrent, and people holding umbrellas were seen wading through knee-deep water in city streets.