TOKYO (AFP) - The death toll from Typhoon Lionrock has risen to 17 in Japan, with several people still missing, and officials said on Sunday (Sept 4) a new storm threatens the country's south-west.

Two more deaths were confirmed on Sunday from the major typhoon which hit northern Japan last week, said an official in the hard-hit prefecture of Iwate.

The death toll is now 17, including the two confirmed on the northern main island of Hokkaido.

Now a new typhoon is bearing down on the country's main island of Kyushu in the southwest.

As of 4pm, Typhoon Namtheun was some 90km south-west of the city of Amakusa in western Kyushu, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The new storm is slowly moving northward with gusts of up to 126 kmh and bringing heavy rain, the agency said, warning of high seas, landslides and floods.

Namtheun is expected to hit northern Kyushu early Monday around high tide, the agency warned.

Lionrock landed on Japan's northern Pacific coast on Tuesday evening, dumping torrential rain over a wide area.

Overflowing rivers wreaked havoc, stranding many communities in the largely agricultural north.

The northern town of Iwaizumi in Iwate was the hardest hit. Nine people were buried inside a old people's home engulfed by a flooded river.

Before Lionrock, two typhoons had claimed at least two lives in Japan's northeast.

In 2013 a powerful typhoon that triggered massive landslides on Oshima island killed 40 people, while 82 died after a typhoon hit Japan in 2011. </s> The storm-battered town of Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture told all 9,947 residents to evacuate Sunday ahead of Typhoon Namtheum, which is expected to hit the area Tuesday.

The Self-Defense Forces used helicopters to help residents get to shelters as officials made efforts to prevent the town from being cut off again by a typhoon.

“We learned from the previous cases that damage is unpredictable,” said Iwaizumi Mayor Katsumi Date. “Even if it is ultimately unnecessary, I thought that we should act early on.”

Warnings were still in effect for strong winds and heavy rain as the death toll from Typhoon Lionrock, which struck Tohoku before rolling over Hokkaido just last week, rose to 15.

As of Sunday, Namtheun was heading north toward Kyushu, the Meteorological Agency said, noting that warnings for strong wind, heavy rain and floods had been issued for Kyushu.

The toll reached 15 after the body of a 57-year-old man was found in Iwaizumi, police and local government officials said.

Lionrock became the first typhoon to land on the Pacific coast of Tohoku last Tuesday, dumping torrential rain over a wide area. Overflowing rivers wreaked havoc, stranding many communities in the largely agricultural northeast.

Iwaizumi lost nine elderly people who were buried without warning in a care facility that was engulfed by floodwaters from a nearby river.

Days later, about 1,000 people still remain stranded in Iwate, a prefectural official said.

“We are dispatching helicopters to bring food and necessary items to the isolated areas,” the official said.

Lionrock was the third typhoon to strike the northeast in about 10 days.

The previous two caused at least two deaths. </s> Story highlights At least nine people reported dead as storm passes over Japan's main island

Flooding, at least one missing on northern island of Hokkaido

Tokyo (CNN) Nine bodies were found in a home for the elderly in the town of Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture, which suffered flooding following Typhoon Lionrock, police tell CNN.

Rescue operations are underway to rescue 400 people who are stranded due to flooding and landslides, according to a statement by the town's prefecture disaster prevention office.

Over 1,100 people were evacuated from their homes and are taking shelter in public facilities across Iwaizumi, the statement says.

Prefectural officials confirmed that nine bodies were found in the Ran Ran retirement home after the nearby Omoto river broke its banks. Police are working to identify the bodies.

Another home for the elderly, Friendly Iwaizumi, avoided casualties as staff were able to move residents to the second floor of the building and avoid the floodwaters. Ran Ran is a single-storey structure.

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The death toll in Japan from Typhoon Lionrock rises to 17 with several people still missing. Typhoon Namtheun is now threatening the main island of Kyushu.