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Agence France-Presse

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned Sunday of a “race against time” to rescue flood victims as the government put the death toll at 48 with 28 others presumed dead.
The torrential downpours have caused flash flooding and landslides across central and western parts of the country, prompting evacuation orders for over two million people.
“Rescues, saving lives and evacuations are a race against time,” Abe said as he met a government crisis cell set up to respond to the disaster.
“There are still many people whose safety has yet to be confirmed,” he added.
Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the whereabouts of 92 people were unknown, mostly in the southern area of Hiroshima prefecture.
More than 100 reports of casualties had been received, such as cars being swept away, he said. Some 40 helicopters were out on rescue missions.
“Rescue efforts are a battle with time,” Abe said.
“The rescue teams are doing their utmost.”

The Japan Meteorological Agency said three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimetres (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.
The rain has completely blanketed some villages, forcing desperate residents to take shelter on their rooftops with floodwater swirling below as they wait for rescue.
Over two million people have been told to evacuate, but the orders are not mandatory and many remained at home, becoming trapped by rapidly rising water or sudden landslides.
The meteorological agency issued its highest level alert for two new regions on Sunday, while lifting the alerts for other areas where rains were subsiding.

In the town of Mihara, in the south of the Hiroshima region, a temporary let-up in rain laid bare the devastation wrought by the downpours.
Roads were transformed into muddy flowing rivers, with dirt piled up on either side and stranded cars barely withstanding the current flowing around their wheels.
“The area became an ocean,” said 82-year-old Nobue Kakumoto, a long-time resident.
“I’m worried because I have no idea how long it will stay like this.”
Work crews could be seen elsewhere trying to clear multiple small landslides that coated roads in mud, rendering them virtually impassable.

“We are carrying out rescue operations around the clock,” Yoshihide Fujitani, a disaster management official in Hiroshima prefecture, said.
“We are also looking after evacuees and restoring lifeline infrastructure like water and gas,” he added.
“We are doing our best.”
In western Okayama prefecture, around 200 people including children and elderly people were trapped in a hospital after a river burst its banks and flooded the surrounding area.
“The electricity and water has been cut off. We are suffering water and food shortages,” a nurse told public broadcaster NHK.


Over 50,000 rescuers, police and military personnel have been mobilised to respond to the disaster, which has left entire villages submerged by flooding, with just the top of traffic lights visible above the rising waters.
“My house was simply washed away and completely destroyed,” Toshihide Takigawa, a 35-year-old employee at a service station in Hiroshima, told the Nikkei daily on Saturday.
“I was in a car and massive floods of water gushed towards me from the front and back and then engulfed the road. I was just able to escape, but I was terrified,” 62-year-old Yuzo Hori told the Mainichi daily in Hiroshima.
Though the typhoon began last week, the worst of the rain hit from Thursday, when a construction worker was swept away by floodwaters in western Japan.
The toll has risen steadily since then, and the conditions have made rescue operations difficult, with some desperate citizens taking to Twitter to call for help.
“Water came to the middle of the second floor,” a woman in Kurashiki, Okayama wrote, posting a picture of her room half swamped by flooding.
“The kids could not climb up to the rooftop,” she said. “My body temperature has lowered. Rescue us quickly. Help us.”
In some place rescuers were using boats, or helicopters to airlift those affected to safety.
Several major manufacturers, including carmakers Daihatsu and Mitsubishi, said they had suspended operations at plants in the affected areas.
The disaster is the deadliest rain-related crisis in Japan since 2014, when at least 74 people were killed in landslides caused by torrential downpours in the Hiroshima region.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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‘Race against time’ to rescue Japan flood victims as death toll hits 76

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides

A train remains derailed by a landslide caused by heave rains in Karatsu, Saga prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwestern Japan. (Tsuyoshi Ueda/Kyodo News via AP)

A highway is covered with mud after heavy rains in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Heavy rainfall hammered southern Japan for the third day, prompting new disaster warnings on Kyushu and Shikoku islands Sunday. (Kyodo News via AP)

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on July 7, 2018 shows a rescue operation under way in a badly flooded residential area of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, following torrential rains that hit a wide area of western Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Saturday shows a residential area of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, where homes are submerged following torrential rains that hit a wide area of western Japan. Photo: Kyodo

Dozens dead and millions of people ordered to evacuate after rain in Japan leads to landslides and flooding

Buildings are almost submerged in floodwaters caused by heavy rain in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture. Photo: Kyodo/AP

Residents are rescued from a flooded area by Japan Self-Defense Force soldiers in Kurashiki, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 7, 2018. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

epa06870103 A road is destroyed due to heavy train in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, 07 July 2018. Heavy rainfall killed at least 15 people and left more than 45 missing, public television reported on 07 July 2018. Japan Meteorological Agency has warned record rainfall on 06 July for flooding, mudslides in southwestern and western Japan through 08 July and issued emergency weather warnings to six prefectures. In nine prefectures in western and southwestern Japan, authorities issued evacuation orders to more than one million people as Typhoon Maria passes the area. EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO ARCHIVES

Rescue workers are seen next to houses damaged by a landslide following heavy rain in Hiroshima, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 7, 2018. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

epa06870100 JR railway train is derailed due to heavy rain in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan, 07 July 2018. Heavy rainfall killed at least 15 people and left more than 45 missing, public television reported on 07 July 2018. Japan Meteorological Agency has warned record rainfall on 06 July for flooding, mudslides in southwestern and western Japan through 08 July and issued emergency weather warnings to six prefectures. In nine prefectures in western and southwestern Japan, authorities issued evacuation orders to more than one million people as Typhoon Maria passes the area. EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO ARCHIVES

People waif to be rescued on the top of a house almost submerged in floodwaters caused by heavy rains in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwestern Japan. (Shingo Nishizume/Kyodo News via AP)

At least 3 dead, several missing in Japan after ‘historic’ heavy rain leads to massive floods

A river is nearly at flood level and nearby residents are ordered to evacuate in Kitakyushu, Japan, on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE/Jiji Press

epa06868212 Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force's officers and workers work to clean landslide that covered a road in Kitakyushu, southwestern island of Kyushu, Japan, 06 July 2018. Japan Meteorological Agency has forecasted record rainfall for warning of flooding, mudslides in southwester and western Japan through 08 July and issued emergency weather warnings to six prefectures. In nine prefectures in western and southwestern Japan, about 170,000 people are issued evacuation orders by authorities. EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO ARCHIVES

epa06868210 Raging Katsura River storm Togetsukyo Bridge in Kyoto, western Japan, 06 July 2018. Japan Meteorological Agency has forecasted record rainfall for warning of flooding, mudslides in southwester and western Japan through 08 July and issued emergency weather warnings to six prefectures. In nine prefectures in western and southwestern Japan, about 170,000 people are issued evacuation orders by authorities. EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO ARCHIVES

Japan battered by heavy rains across several prefectures, causing landslides and flooding

The Togetsu bridge on the Katsura river in Kyoto. Photo: AFP

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Asia

East Asia

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides


Authorities warned landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.


Natural disasters

‘Race against time’ to rescue Japan flood victims as death toll hits 76

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides