The death toll in torrential rains in southwestern Japan climbed to 157, while 56 people were reported missing, public broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday.

Heavy rainfall has been lashing the country since Thursday, especially the western prefectures of Hiroshima and Ehime, and have have caused floods and landslides that destroyed property and completely cut off several towns. </s> The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads. </s> Tokyo — The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported yesterday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu — the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands — after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 600 believed to still be cut off, according to Jiji Press.

Jiji and public broadcaster NHK reported the death toll had risen to 15 as more bodies were discovered.

The central government announced Friday an official death toll of seven with 22 people unaccounted for.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters to be ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out “SOS” for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimeters of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

“My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area, and I have absolutely no information about the situation there,” Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told Agence France-Presse Friday, referring to a district in the city.

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations. </s> TOKYO (AP) - The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Firefighters inspect the collapsed houses in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 8, 2017. The southern island of Kyushu suffered heavy rain after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week, dumping large amounts of rain that damaged homes, roads and rice fields. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads. </s> TOKYO, July 10 — The death toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan with flooding and landslides rose today to 156, the top government spokesman said.

Search-and-rescue operations are continuing after the worst weather-related disaster in Japan in over three decades, with dozens of people still believed missing. — AFP </s> The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, a government official said Saturday, as rescuers continued work to evacuate isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 500 believed to still be cut off, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters early Saturday that the death toll "rose to 15" and 16 people were still missing.

Local governments announced Friday that a total of eight people have died.

"The region is expected to see a localised heavy rain today," Suga said, advising local residents to gather information from the governments and media.

Separately, three women were found dead at the sea facing Saga prefecture, near the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, NHK said, adding that they were likely the victims of the heavy rain.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters and ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS" for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiancé decided to postpone Saturday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement. </s> TOKYO, July 11 — The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan has risen to 179, the government’s top spokesman said this morning.

Search-and-rescue operations are continuing after floods and landslides caused by the rains, and local media said several dozen people were still missing in Japan’s deadliest weather-related disaster in over three decades. — AFP </s> KURASHIKI, Japan: Unprecedented rains that have killed at least 69 people also stranded 1,850 in the western Japanese city of Kurashiki on Sunday, including about 130 at a hospital, with rescuers using helicopters and boats after rivers surged over their banks.

Kurashiki, with a population of just under 500,000, has been hit hardest by the torrential rains that pounded some parts of western Japan, causing the highest death toll since 2014.

Scores of patients, some still in their pyjamas, and nurses were rescued from the isolated Mabi Memorial Hospital in boats rowed by members of Japan's Self Defence Forces.

"I'm most grateful to rescuers," said Shigeyuki Asano, a 79-year-old patient who spent a night without electricity or water.

"I feel so relieved that I am now liberated from such a bad-smelling, dark place," said Asano.

A city official said 170 patients and workers had been evacuated from the hospital and another 130 people, including 70 patients, were waiting to be rescued.

Television footage showed a massive rescue operation, with some 1,850 people isolated in the city, according to public broadcaster NHK. Kyodo news reported that most people had been rescued in the city by 1400 JST (0500 GMT)

The overall death toll from the rains in Japan rose to at least 69 on Sunday after floodwaters forced several million people from their homes, media reports and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The death toll is the highest caused by water disasters since 2014 when 77 people were killed in heavy rain which set off landslides in Hiroshima in western Japan.

Another 61 were missing, NHK said, and more rain was set to hit some areas for at least another day.

The rain set off landslides and flooded rivers, trapping many people in their houses or on rooftops.

"We've never experienced this kind of rain before," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) told a news conference. "This is a situation of extreme danger".

Among the missing was a 9-year-old boy believed trapped in his house by a landslide that killed at least three others, including a man in his 80s.

"All I have is what I'm wearing," a rescued woman clutching a toy poodle told NHK. "We had fled to the second floor but then the water rose more, so we went up to the third floor".

Japan's government set up an emergency management centre at the prime minister's office and some 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched across a wide swath of southwestern and western Japan.

"There are still many people missing and others in need of help, we are working against time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

Emergency warnings for severe rain had been lifted by evening, but there were still advisories for heavy rain and landslides.

Evacuation orders stayed in place for nearly 2 million people and another 2.3 million were advised to evacuate, although rain had stopped and floodwaters receded in some areas.

Landslide warnings were issued in more than a quarter of Japan's prefectures.

The rain began late last week as the remnants of a typhoon fed into a seasonal rainy front, with humid, warm air from the Pacific making it still more active - a pattern similar to one that set off flooding in southwestern Japan exactly a year ago that killed dozens. The front then remained in one place for an unusually long time, the JMA said.

Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan. Shinkansen bullet train services resumed on a limited schedule after they were suspended on Friday.

Automakers including Mazda Motor Corp and Daihatsu Motor Co suspended operations at several plants on Saturday due to a shortage of parts or dangerous conditions. They were to decide later on Sunday on plans for the coming week.

Electronics maker Panasonic Corp said one plant in Okayama, western Japan, could not be reached due to road closures, although it had been closed for the weekend anyway. A decision about next week would be made on Monday, it said.

While the Japanese government monitors weather conditions closely and issues warnings from an early stage, the fact that much of the country outside major cities is mountainous and building takes place on virtually every bit of usable land leaves it vulnerable to disasters. </s> Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday said floods in Japan, caused by heavy rains, left 134 people dead, while 88 are missing.

As of Monday night, 126 people were considered dead; over 60 were believed to be missing.

“As far as we know, 134 people have died.

“Ten people are officially listed as missing. At the same time, it has been impossible to confirm the security and location of 78 others,’’ Suga told a news conference.

According to the cabinet secretary, the authorities have received about 100 alerts from witnesses who said they saw floodwater washing away a car with people inside.

“To aid the damaged areas, two billion yen (about 18 million dollars) has been allocated,’’ Suga added.

Heavy rain poured down on the southwest and center of Japan earlier this month, causing flooding and landslides.

About 1,800 people were evacuated from the affected areas by Monday night, over 11,000 people were staying in special shelters. Power was cut in over 20,000 households.
The death toll from heavy rains in Japan rises to 155 while several other people are still missing.