Japan floods: Rescue work continues amid deadly floods
Japan floods: Rescue work continues amid deadly floods
(about 2 hours later)
Rescue work is continuing across northeast Japan, where at least three people have died in severe flooding and hundreds of people are stranded.
Rescue work is continuing across northeast Japan, where at least three people have died in severe flooding and many remain stranded.
The deaths were in the badly hit prefectures of Tochigi and Miyagi, both north of the capital, Tokyo.
Twenty-four people are still missing and at least 27 people have been injured, eight seriously.
Twenty-six people are still missing, 25 of them in or around Joso city in Ibaraki, where the Kinugawa River burst its banks on Thursday.
Officials have warned of further heavy rain and the risk of mudslides, as the extreme weather moves north.
Officials have warned of further heavy rain and the risk of mudslides.
The torrential rain comes in the wake of Typhoon Etau, which ploughed through Japan earlier this week.
The torrential rain comes in the wake of Typhoon Etau, which ploughed through Japan earlier this week.
In other major developments on Friday:
The region affected is a vast area northeast of Tokyo, stretching from Ibaraki prefecture, a short distance from the capital, right up to Miyagi prefecture, around 350km (217 miles) away.
Rooftop rescues
In Ibaraki prefecture:
Officials have confirmed that a 63-year-old woman was killed when her house was hit by a landslide in Kanuma City in Tochigi.
In Tochigi prefecture:
A second woman, 48, was killed after her car was swept away in Kurihara city in Miyagi. And in hot spring resort of Nikko in Tochigi, a man died after falling into a drain he was trying to clear.
In Miyagi prefecture:
At least 27 people have been injured, eight seriously.
Fukushima prefecture:
In Joso, which was deluged by the burst river on Thursday, nearly 6,000 emergency service workers are trying to reach stranded people. Many rescuers had worked through the night.
Officials in the city of 60,000, about 50 km northeast of Tokyo, said 22 people there had lost contact after requesting help. NHK reported that two eight-year-old children were believed to be among them.
Akira Motokawa, a Joso city evacuation official, told national broadcaster NHK that rescuers had been unable to keep up with the volume of calls for help.
Thousands have been taken to temporary shelters, many carrying almost nothing with them.
Floodwaters in Joso had subsided somewhat by Friday morning, but much of the city was still under water and it is not clear when evacuees will be able to return home.
'No time to escape'
'No time to escape'
Sixty-two-year-old Hisako Sekimoto, who was rescued by military helicopter in the early morning, said she spent a sleepless night on the upper floor of her flooded house with her husband and three cats.
Sixty-two-year-old Hisako Sekimoto, who was rescued by military helicopter in the early morning, said she spent a sleepless night on the upper floor of her flooded house with her husband and three cats.
"There was no time to escape. All we could do was go upstairs. It was horrifying,'' she said. "I kept praying the water wouldn't come upstairs."
"There was no time to escape. All we could do was go upstairs. It was horrifying,'' she said. "I kept praying the water wouldn't come upstairs."
The chief forecaster at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Takuya Deshimaru, has said the rainfall over the past few days was "unprecedented".
The chief forecaster at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Takuya Deshimaru, has said the rainfall over the past few days was "unprecedented".
In Tochigi, more than 500mm (19 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours in places, double the amount that normally falls there throughout the whole of September, according to NHK.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed a co-ordinated and speedy emergency response
Parts of central Tochigi have seen almost 600mm of rain since Monday evening, breaking records.
"Before anything else, we will continue to do our utmost to save lives and rescue victims, to secure the lives of people," he told reporters.
A severe rain warning remains in effect for large areas of northeastern Japan.
Japanese authorities have emphasised disaster prevention and response in recent years, stung by criticism at the time that their response to the 2011 tsunami and earthquake was sluggish.
Many other areas of eastern and north-eastern Japan have also been issued weather warnings, including Fukushima prefecture, home to the still-damaged nuclear plant hit in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The downpour overwhelmed the site's drainage pumps, a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said. Huge volumes of water, used to cool the plant's crippled reactors, are being stored at the site.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the authorities were doing their best.
"The government will stand united and do its best to deal with the disaster... by putting its highest priority on people's lives," he told reporters.
Japan has emphasised disaster prevention since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people. Authorities have been keen to avoid the criticism they faced at the time for what was seen as a sluggish response.
