Funeral parlour employee Tomoki Maeda was in a hearse when the typhoon struck in Miyazaki city in southern Kyushu, shattering windows and tearing down power lines and the walls of some buildings.

“I’ve never experienced such a strong wind or tornado in my 31 years of life,” he told Reuters.

Two more cities in the Oita prefecture – inhabited by nearly 30,000 people – were issued with the highest level of emergency warnings on Thursday, the Japan Times reported.

Kunisaki issued the Level 5 alert – meaning disaster is impending and immediate life-saving action should be taken – at 2:15pm for nearly 4,000 households in the Aki-machi area of the city, after the Aki River overflowed due to heavy rainfall. Lower Level 4 orders – denoting a high risk of disaster – remain in place for the rest of the city.

Bungotakada issued its warning less than half an hour later for nearly 11,000 households due to the threat of flooded rivers and landslides.

With the storm moving at bicycle speed across Japan, officials fear the intensified local rainfall could cause heavy flooding and landslides. Here are some images from the island of Kyushu:

There was 110mm of rain in the space of an hour near Kamiita-cho, where an 80-year-old man was killed when a roof collapsed on Thursday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

For context, London experiences an average of just 69mm of rain across the whole month of January, according to the Met Office.

A man in his 60s is missing after falling into the sea from a small boat in Kagoshima City, according to reports.

A body was found nearby on Thursday afternoon by the coast guard and they are investigating whether there is any connection, NHK reported.

An 80-year-old man is reported to be the fourth person to have died in the storm.

The man was trapped in Tokushima prefecture after the roof of a house collapsed, according to national broadcaster NHK.

He was rescued nearly an hour later but died in hospital, NHK reports.

Three others were killed in a landslide which buried a house in the central Aichi prefecture, around 150 miles east of Tokushima.

At least 94 people have been injured in the storm as it triggers flooding, fierce winds and landslides, NNK reports.

Here are some images of the destruction wrought by fierce winds in Miyazaki, southern Kyushu, as the typhoon made landfall.

In one, what appears to be a mangled metal roof can be seen wrapped around power lines and trees.

Other images show the wall of a house which has been destroyed, while in another roof tiles and other debris are scattered across the street.

Funeral parlour employee Tomoki Maeda was in a hearse when the typhoon struck in Miyazaki city in southern Kyushu, shattering windows and tearing down walls of some buildings.

“I’ve never experienced such a strong wind or tornado in my 31 years of life,” Maeda told Reuters.

Carmaker Toyota suspended operations in all of its domestic plants ahead of the storm, while Nissan, Honda and chipmakers Renesas and Tokyo Electron also temporarily halted production at some factories as Typhoon Shanshan lashed the country.

Here’s everything that has happened so far:

Fatalities and injuries: At least three people died, and 50 were injured after Storm Shanshan hit southern Japan on Thursday.

Evacuations and power outages: Millions were ordered to evacuate, with nearly 250,000 households losing power, mainly in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Impact: Shanshan made landfall as a typhoon with winds up to 200 km/h before weakening to a tropical storm. It caused significant damage, including toppling trees, flooding rivers, and shattering windows.

Rainfall and flood risk: Miyazaki Prefecture experienced nearly two feet of rain, surpassing its monthly average. Additional heavy rainfall and potential floods are expected in Kyushu and Yamaguchi.