TOKYO - The death toll from floods which have devastated parts of Japan in recent days rose to seven Sunday, with thousands of homes submerged, as rescuers searched for 15 people still missing.
Police Sunday found the bodies of two men in rice paddies in Joso, the worst-hit city. Earlier in the day they discovered the body of a 68-year-old man inside a submerged car in a flooded ricefield in the town of Tochigi north of Tokyo.
Parts of Joso, a community of 65,000 residents, were washed away Thursday when a levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area spanning 32 square kilometres (12 square miles) after the worst rains in decades.
Toru Takasugi, mayor of the city about 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside Tokyo, apologised at a press conference for not ordering residents to evacuate before the river burst its banks, local media reported.
"We thought it might break its banks but we couldn't predict where. We are deeply sorry for not handling the situation properly," he said.
Four days have passed since the flooding but a total of 1,800 rescuers including police, firefighters and military were still struggling Sunday to find 15 people still missing from Joso, public broadcaster NHK said.
The weather agency warned of the possibility of more heavy rain in the flood-hit area later in the evening.
Japan city flooded as raging river breaks it banks: TV
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A Japanese city was flooded Thursday when a raging river burst its banks
destroying homes and cars as desperate residents waited for help
and as thousands of people were ordered to evacuate.
Dramatic television footage showed a wall of muddy water gushing from the swollen Kinugawa river in Joso city, north of Tokyo, which is home to around 65,000 people.
Several people are reportedly missing across the country as waist-high floods in some areas left rescuers scrambling to pluck residents to safety
as a wide area was deluged in the wake of Typhoon Etau.
The huge rains also exacerbated a contaminated water problem at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
as it overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, sending radiation-tainted water into the ocean.
“This is a scale of downpour that we have not experienced before,” forecaster Takuya Deshimaru told an emergency press conference.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government was on high alert.
“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.
In Joso, houses and vehicles were washed away along with some power lines
as military personnel headed to the area to help with the rescue mission.
A solitary man clutched onto a concrete power pole, unable to move as raging water surged by him. He was later rescued.
Nearby, an emergency official was suspended from a helicopter to rescue a person from a submerged home.
Desperate residents waved towels at rescuers as they stood on second-floor balconies waiting for help.
“Please continue to ask for help. Please do not give up hope,” an NHK broadcaster said in an apparent message to helpless residents.
The city is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside the capital Tokyo, which has also been hit by flooding.
Joso is in Ibaraki prefecture, where the Japan Meteorological Agency had issued special warnings urging vigilance against mudslides and flooding. It had similar warnings for Tochigi prefecture.
“The prefecture has requested assistance from the Self-Defence Forces and police helicopters from the region. We are receiving their help,” a prefectural official told AFP.
“We do not have updated information about the damage, but we know it is extensive and affected wide areas,” he added.
Tochigi authorities ordered more than 90,000 residents to evacuate
while another 116,000 were advised to leave their homes, public broadcaster NHK said. In Ibaraki , at least 20,000 were ordered to evacuate for fears of floodings.
In Tochigi’s Kanuma city, a local official said rescuers were searching for a missing person believed to be buried in mudslides.
“We don’t know details of this person yet,” he said.
NHK reported it was a woman in her 60s buried after mudslides destroyed houses. Her husband was rescued soon after, it added.
Two men were missing in Nikko, a city known for its historical shrines, after possibly being buried by landslides, public broadcaster NHK said.
Two other men in Nikko were rescued after being swept into a drainage gutter, but one was unconscious, the broadcaster said.
Etau, which smashed into Japan on Wednesday, moved out into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) by the end of the day
but a wall of rain continued to lash the country.
Japanese farmer Teppei Takahashi inspects his damaged rice fields due to high winds and heavy rains of Typhoon Etau in Isumi city, Chiba prefecture, Japan, 09 September 2015.
More than a dozen people were injured
including a 77-year-old woman who broke her leg after falling in strong winds, local reports said.
A protester (C) shouts slogans at a rally against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bill and his administration in Tokyo, during heavy rain caused by typhoon Etau, September 9, 2015.
A protester (C), with a placard and illumination lights hung around his neck, attends a rally against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bill and his administration, during heavy rain caused by typhoon Etau in Tokyo September 9, 2015.
AFP, Reuters
A Japanese city was flooded Thursday when a raging river burst its banks
destroying homes and cars as desperate residents waited for help
and as thousands of people were ordered to evacuate.
Dramatic television footage showed a wall of muddy water gushing from the swollen Kinugawa river in Joso city, north of Tokyo, which is home to around 65,000 people.
Several people are reportedly missing across the country as waist-high floods in some areas left rescuers scrambling to pluck residents to safety
as a wide area was deluged in the wake of Typhoon Etau.
The huge rains also exacerbated a contaminated water problem at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
as it overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, sending radiation-tainted water into the ocean.
“This is a scale of downpour that we have not experienced before,” forecaster Takuya Deshimaru told an emergency press conference.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government was on high alert.
“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.
In Joso, houses and vehicles were washed away along with some power lines
as military personnel headed to the area to help with the rescue mission.
A solitary man clutched onto a concrete power pole, unable to move as raging water surged by him. He was later rescued.
Nearby, an emergency official was suspended from a helicopter to rescue a person from a submerged home.
Desperate residents waved towels at rescuers as they stood on second-floor balconies waiting for help.
“Please continue to ask for help. Please do not give up hope,” an NHK broadcaster said in an apparent message to helpless residents.
The city is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside the capital Tokyo, which has also been hit by flooding.
Joso is in Ibaraki prefecture, where the Japan Meteorological Agency had issued special warnings urging vigilance against mudslides and flooding. It had similar warnings for Tochigi prefecture.
“The prefecture has requested assistance from the Self-Defence Forces and police helicopters from the region. We are receiving their help,” a prefectural official told AFP.
“We do not have updated information about the damage, but we know it is extensive and affected wide areas,” he added.
Tochigi authorities ordered more than 90,000 residents to evacuate
while another 116,000 were advised to leave their homes, public broadcaster NHK said. In Ibaraki , at least 20,000 were ordered to evacuate for fears of floodings.
In Tochigi’s Kanuma city, a local official said rescuers were searching for a missing person believed to be buried in mudslides.
“We don’t know details of this person yet,” he said.
NHK reported it was a woman in her 60s buried after mudslides destroyed houses. Her husband was rescued soon after, it added.
Two men were missing in Nikko, a city known for its historical shrines, after possibly being buried by landslides, public broadcaster NHK said.
Two other men in Nikko were rescued after being swept into a drainage gutter, but one was unconscious, the broadcaster said.
Etau, which smashed into Japan on Wednesday, moved out into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) by the end of the day
but a wall of rain continued to lash the country.
Japanese farmer Teppei Takahashi inspects his damaged rice fields due to high winds and heavy rains of Typhoon Etau in Isumi city, Chiba prefecture, Japan, 09 September 2015.
More than a dozen people were injured
including a 77-year-old woman who broke her leg after falling in strong winds, local reports said.
A protester (C) shouts slogans at a rally against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bill and his administration in Tokyo, during heavy rain caused by typhoon Etau, September 9, 2015.
A protester (C), with a placard and illumination lights hung around his neck, attends a rally against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security bill and his administration, during heavy rain caused by typhoon Etau in Tokyo September 9, 2015.
AFP, Reuters
Officials said more than 1,650 people were still at evacuation centres in Joso Sunday afternoon as over 4,000 houses were submerged and the water supply remained cut off.
The number of missing in Joso dropped from 22 to 15 Saturday after police found more victims alive, including a pair of eight-year-old children.
In Kanuma city north of Joso a 63-year-old woman was killed by a landslide, while a 48-year-old woman was found dead in the northern prefecture of Miyagi.
A 25-year-old man was killed while helping to clear blocked drains in the city of Nikko, known for its historic shrines.
Police also found the body of a man in a river in Miyagi.