Several areas had already been flooded by the morning and dozens of cars were trapped on overflowing roads in Sendai's Wakabayashi Ward and in the nearby city of Iwanuma, both in Miyagi Prefecture.
The ground in some areas sank several centimeters during the massive quake, which shifted the island's position in the Pacific Ocean. This made many areas vulnerable for the first time to high tides and heavy rain.
Shortly after 9 a.m., a blackout struck the disaster-hit town of Minamisanriku, Iwate Prefecture, where many people are still living in emergency shelters at schools.
"After the lights went out, I was horrified by my memory of the March disaster," said Yasuko Saijo, 77, who is living in one of the shelters in town.
She said her home in the coastal area has been persistently flooded by seawater since the magnitude 9 earthquake. "Heavy rain this time may further damage my home," she said.
East Japan Railway Co. suspended train services on the Tohoku Line between Fukushima and Ichinoseki stations in Iwate Prefecture, while the Joban Line between Watari and Iwanuma, both in Miyagi, was suspended for safety reasons.
In addition, at least one bullet train run was canceled as of Monday morning on the Akita Shinkansen Line, JR East said.
The typhoon had weakened into a tropical storm off Shikoku on Sunday afternoon, but the Meteorological Agency warned that it could still cause downpours and strong winds across the country through Monday.
Winds as strong as 118 kph were observed in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, the agency said.
Ishinomaki and other coastal areas along the Pacific will see full tides between Tuesday and June 7, the agency said, warning of floods on a mass scale coupling with heavy rain.
The storm was moving toward waters off eastern Japan, activating the front hovering over the Tohoku region, especially on the tsunami-ravaged Pacific side, the agency said.
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