Storm hits Japan's main island

TOKYO -- A tropical storm rumbled up Japan's most populated island Saturday, bringing torrential rains that stranded thousands of travelers and triggered flooding and mudslides. Dozens of people were injured and three remained missing a day after the storm claimed three lives.

Etau -- rated a typhoon until Friday -- moved overland along Japan's main island of Honshu before veering toward its northwestern coast, the nation's Meteorological Agency said. It bypassed Tokyo but drenched the capital with a downpour that lasted through the afternoon.

The storm lost some of its power after moving ashore early Saturday near the western city of Nishinomiya, the agency said. Winds of up to 55 mph were recorded at the center of the storm in the afternoon, less than half the speed of peak gusts the previous day.

A storm is rated a typhoon when surface winds reach 74 mph.

Punishing winds were accompanied by heavy rains of up to 20 inches in parts of western Japan.

Dozens of flights were canceled and some rail service was suspended.

More than 700 homes were flooded and another 15 suffered structural damage as rain-swollen rivers spilled over their banks and embankments weakened by the downpour gave way in mudslides, the National Police Agency said.

Three storm-related deaths had been confirmed as of Friday night, including two people who were swept away by rivers. Fifty-seven injuries had been reported by Saturday, police said.

Several hundred people around the country sought refuge in evacuation centers, public service broadcaster NHK reported.

Etau, which means "storm cloud" in the language of the Pacific island of Palau, struck Japan's outlying southern islands on Thursday and started battering the mainland on Friday.