Heavy rains and mudslides from powerful Typhoon Talas left at least 20 people dead in Japan on Sunday as it moved slowly northward past the country's western coast. At least 50 others were missing, AP quoted local media as saying. Evacuation orders and advisories were issued to 460,000 people in western and central Japan. At least 3,600 people were stranded by flooded rivers, landslides and collapsed bridges that were hampering rescue efforts, Kyodo News agency reported. The typhoon dumped record amounts of rain in some areas. It was the country's worst storm since one in 2004 that left 98 people either dead or missing, the Yomiuri newspaper said. Talas damaged Nijojo castle in the ancient city of Kyoto, tearing a large piece of plaster from the gate wall. The castle, a popular tourist destination, is designated an important cultural treasure. Public broadcaster NHK showed a bridge swept away after intense rain caused a river to swell with brown torrents. People holding umbrellas waded through knee-deep water in city streets and residential areas. Cars were washed away. The center of the season's 12th typhoon was moving slowly north across the Sea of Japan off the country's west coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It crossed the southern island of Shikoku and the central part of the main island of Honshu overnight Saturday. That area is hundreds of miles (kilometers) from Japan's tsunami-ravaged northeastern coast. Because of the storm's slow speed, the agency warned that heavy rains and strong winds were likely to continue and could cause more flooding and landslides. It issued landslide warnings in nearly all of the country's prefectures. Fears were growing of additional damage from more mudslides because the ground was already soaked. Three homes were buried in a landslide in Wakayama prefecture. One woman whose identity was still being confirmed died, four remained missing and a 14-year old girl was saved from the debris, police said. Overall in the hard-hit prefecture, 10 people were dead and 32 people were missing, they said. -- SPA
