1 dead, 15 feared dead, 9 missing in rain, floods in southwest Japan

KYODO NEWS

- Jul 04, 2020 - 23:54 All,Japan

A passenger car is brought to a standstill on a submerged road in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on July 4, 2020, due to torrential rain. (Kyodo)

IN PHOTOS: Torrential rain floods southwestern Japan Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on July 4, 2020, shows inundated houses in Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Kuma River overflowed following torrential rain. (Kyodo)

Photo taken July 4, 2020, shows an inundated street in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, on July 4, 2020, after torrential rain in southwestern Japan. (Kyodo) Yukinobu Katsueda, chief priest at a Buddhist temple in Kuma, said, "I heard an enormous sound of water gushing in the middle of the night. My house has been flooded to the second floor and the village is devastated." At the temple some 40 elderly people took shelter but without food. "We have no electricity, no water. The road is flooded and cut off. I can't bear it if this situation continues," Katsueda said. Mayumi Noguchi, another Ashikita resident, said, "I have lived here for more than 20 years but I've never seen such a calamity." She said she saw cars being pushed out in a brown muddy river and mudslides at a nearby mountain. In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told an emergency meeting of Cabinet ministers that about 10,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel would be mobilized for relief efforts, ordering the immediate shipment of relief supplies to affected residents. Shinkansen bullet train services in the prefectures have been suspended, Kyushu Railway Co. said. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corp. said some 33,100 phone lines in southern Kumamoto Prefecture were disconnected, affecting its internet services. Japan's top three mobile phone carriers, SoftBank Corp., KDDI Corp., and NTT Docomo Inc. also said there have been disruptions to its communication network in parts of Kumamoto, Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures. A rain front that brought the downpour to Kumamoto and Kagoshima as well as Miyazaki is expected to straddle western and eastern Japan areas through Sunday, the weather agency said, warning of heavy rain particularly in parts of western Japan. A child removes mud from a street in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Kuma River overflowed following torrential rain. (Kyodo) A child receives drinking water at a temporary evacuation center in Ashikita, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Kuma River overflowed following torrential rain. (Kyodo)

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the Kuma River in Kumamoto Prefecture flooded with heavy rain. (Kyodo)

A child removes mud from a street in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Kuma River overflowed following torrential rain. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A child receives drinking water at a temporary evacuation center in Ashikita, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Kuma River overflowed following torrential rain. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

SEE UPDATE HERE:7 dead in flood-ravaged southwest Japan as rescue operations continueTOKYO - Torrential rain in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto triggered massive flooding Saturday, leaving one woman dead, 15 people feared dead and nine others missing, local authorities said, as the weather agency warned of downpours to continue.Around 203,200 residents were asked to take shelter in Kumamoto Prefecture and neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture. A total of 109 shelters opened in 17 municipalities in Kumamoto housing at least 871 evacuees, with measures against the new coronavirus.A …READ FULL ARTICLE

1 dead, 15 feared dead, 9 missing in rain, floods in southwest Japan

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