Freak rain storms pound Japan, at least three dead: NHK
A car damaged by a swollen river is seen after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei Kato
ASAKURA, Japan (Reuters) - Torrential rains battered southwestern Japan for a second day on Thursday, killing three people, with 100,000 ordered to evacuate their homes and while thousands of rescuers, some in helicopters, searched for survivors.
Parts of Fukuoka prefecture, on the island of Kyushu, were hit by 556 mm (22 inches) of rain in the 40 hours to 4 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Thursday, about 1.6 times the amount that usually falls in the whole of July, the weather agency said.
Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers conduct rescue operations after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. Defense Ministry of Japan/Handout via REUTERS
Television showed a military helicopter airlifting a stranded resident to safety and houses half submerged in murky water or destroyed by landslides.
"I heard this tremendous rumbling noise and then the house exploded. A tree burst through the wall into the room," a sodden, dishevelled man told public broadcaster NHK after his house was hit by a landslide.
Three people had been killed, three were in "cardiopulmonary arrest" and eight were injured, NHK reported, while about 300 people were stranded, mostly in their homes, cut off by floods or landslides.
A firefighter conducts rescue operations in an area damaged by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Thousands of soldiers, police and fire fighters fanned out, wading through water and plodding through mud to search for victims.
"Since daybreak today, we have mobilised 7,800 people from police, fire authorities and the Self-Defence Forces to do our utmost in searching and rescuing the affected," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
About 250 people had been rescued, but there were some areas where the rescue teams had yet to reach, he said.
A local resident walks in an area damaged by swollen river after heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei Kato
The weather agency downgraded a special warning issued on Wednesday to Fukuoka and neighbouring Oita prefecture to a regular alert, but heavy rain was likely continue into Friday.
"Soil has been loosened in these regions because of the heavy rain ... Strict vigilance should be maintained," an agency official told reporters.
Fukuoka and Oita prefectures are both largely rural.
Firefighters conduct rescue operations in an area damaged by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei Kato
The rain was caused by a low pressure area over the Pacific that fed warm, moist air into Japan's seasonal rainy front.
Television footage showed a railway line left broken and twisted and roads eaten away by floods.
All operations stopped at a Daihatsu Motor Co plant in Oita because staff and parts could not get to the plant. The company also cancelled a shift at a plant in nearby Fukuoka.
A local resident reacts as she cleans her house damaged by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei Kato
A spokesman for JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp said there was no impact on its Oita refinery operations and Toshiba Corp said its semiconductor plant in Oita was operating normally.
(Writing by Elaine Lies, Kiyoshi Takenaka Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Osamu Tsukimori, Naomi Tajitsu, Kentaro Hamada, Takahiko Wada; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)
An area damaged by swollen river after heavy rain is seen in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei KatoCars damaged by swollen river are seen after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Issei KatoA local resident is rescued by members of the Japan Self-Defense Force after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. Defense Ministry of Japan/HANDOUT via REUTERSA firefighter is seen next to trees washed down by swollen river after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Issei KatoHouses and a vehicle are damaged by a swollen river after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 6, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS A firefighter conducts rescue operations in an area damaged by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Issei KatoLocal residents are rescued by firefighters after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 6, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS A local resident is rescued by a firefighter after heavy rain hit the area in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 6, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERSA flooded road with fallen rocks is pictured in Hita in Oita Prefecture, Japan, after torrential rain hits, in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERSFirefighters rescue people with a boat in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 6, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via An evacuee takes a rest in Asakura Education Center which is being used as an evacuation center In Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei KatoLocal residents walk in an area damaged by swollen river after heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. REUTERS/Issei KatoA man walks through a flooded street in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS Evacuated people stay at a civic center, after heavy rain in Masuda, Japan July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS Debris is seen stuck at a railway bridge after heavy rain, at Hikosan Rive in Soeda, Japan July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS The swollen Hikosan River is pictured in Soeda in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, after torrential rain hits in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS A flooded road with fallen rocks is pictured in Hita in Oita Prefecture, Japan, after torrential rain hits, in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS A road is flooded by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS People look at a flooded road and swollen river due to heavy rain in Miyoshi, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo July 5, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS
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