Typhoon Shanshan turns deadly, brings 30 inches of rain to Japan and flooding isn't over yet

More than 30 inches of rain has brought severe flooding to Japan and the story is far from over as former Typhoon Shanshan is forecast to stall over the island nation.

Former Typhoon Shanshan, now a severe tropical storm, is moving slowly up the southern half of Japan, bringing feet of rain, triggering landslides and unleashing tornadoes. The storm is far from over, however, as flooding rain will continue to fall through early next week due to the storm's slow trek across the island nation.

Shanshan was the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale late Thursday night JST after it pushed into Kyushu, Japan, Thursday afternoon as a Category 2 equivalent.

More than a quarter of a million customers on the island of Kyushu were without power as of Thursday evening JST, Kyushu Electric Power said. A rain gauge at Ebino Plateau, in the mountains of central Kyushu, measured over 32 inches (815 mm) of rain since Tuesday while another station at Shinmon reported 31.3 inches (794.5 mm).

Nearly 4 million people were urged to evacuate before the storm hit. Typhoon Shanshan is the strongest storm of the season so far, and Wednesday was only the fourth time on record that Japan's government issued a "special typhoon warning," The Guardian wrote.

NHK reported that four people were injured Wednesday when a possible tornado touched down in Miyazaki, on the eastern shore of Kyushu. Video showed severe damage to cars and buildings. In Kagoshima City, a man disappeared after falling into the ocean and has not been found.

On Tuesday, three people died when a landslide in Gamagori City, which may have been caused by heavy rain north of Typhoon Shanshan, destroyed their home.

A slow northeast-to-east track is expected for Shanshan through Friday. Unfortunately, the storm will slow or stall for a time this weekend before finally being guided eastward early next week.

Due to the storm's slow movement, heavy rain will continue to cause significant, life-threatening flooding, landslides, mudslides and transportation delays. A widespread area of 1-2 feet of rain is likely, with local amounts exceeding 3 feet.