Japan deploys military as Hagibis typhoon kills 23

The Japanese military has been deployed as thousands of troops and rescue workers scour the area around Tokyo after typhoon Hagibis has killed over 23 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

A Japanese broadcaster has said that 17 people are missing.

The typhoon is being described as one of the worst storms in Japanese history. More than three feet of rain fell in the town of Makone near Mount Fuji between Friday and Saturday, the highest total ever recorded in Japan over the course of 48 hours.

Japanese military troops have been deployed in rescue efforts (Photo: Reuters)

Nearly 150,000 homes in the greater Tokyo area are without power and with very little running water. Train and flight services were cancelled under the threat of Hagibis resuming.

Many of the deaths came as people were buried in landslides or swept away by flood waters. 

In the central Nagano prefecture, water engulfed Japan's famous bullet trains while helicopters took on stranded residents from rooftops.

A total of 27,000 military troops and other rescue crews have been deployed in relief operations. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised the people that "the government will do its utmost", promising to deploy more military resources if necessary.