Jul 28 (NHK) - Japanese authorities have lifted evacuation orders for thousands of households after a tropical storm hit the northeast of the country.
Tropical storm Nepartak made landfall on the Pacific coast on Wednesday morning, prompting evacuation orders across the region.
As of 11:00 a.m., evacuation orders, which reached level four on a scale of five, were lifted for over 23,000 households in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture.
The city had earlier set up shelters and urged all residents in areas at risk of being impacted by the storm to evacuate.
Evacuation orders in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, as well as Kurihara and Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, were also lifted.
Advisories remained in place in four municipalities in Iwate Prefecture and three in Miyagi Prefecture, where officials urged the elderly and those with physical disabilities to evacuate from areas at risk of landslides and flooding.
Shinkansen bullet trains on the Tohoku, Yamagata and Akita lines were running on schedule.
East Japan Railway Company said most local trains in Miyagi, Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures were also operating normally. The company said the storm was likely to have little impact on services.
