DEVASTATION: Search is on for survivors in areas devastated by flooding and landslides -
ASAKURA: Japanese rescue crews took advantage of a break in the weather on Saturday to search for survivors of torrential rain, floods and landslides, as the death toll from several days of freak weather rose to 16, the NHK state broadcaster reported.
Authorities warned of more downpours over the weekend, compounding the misery that the summer storms have brought to southwest Japan since Wednesday.
Some neighbourhoods have been devastated by flooding and landslides, and rescue workers and residents have been picking their way through expanses of broken, water-logged trees, branches and mud.
“All the mud and debris is making the clean-up effort difficult,” said Susumu Higuchi, a resident of Asakura.
The city was pounded by more than 600 mm of rain in the 24 hours to 5 am (2000 GMT) on Saturday, according to Japan’s weather agency.
Heavy machinery was working to clear almost knee-deep mud from streets while nearby, an uprooted tree was tangled in cables from an electricity power pole.
A police dog was hunting for victims in flooded homes, many now clogged with debris.
The weather agency said 150 mm of rain was forecast to fall in industrialised Northern Kyushu in the 24 hours to 6 am on Sunday. Some places have seen more rain in a matter of hours than they usually get in the whole month of July.
The rain has been caused by a low pressure over the Pacific that has been feeding into moist air into Japan’s seasonal rainy front.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters early on Saturday that 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.
“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 said on 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.
— Reuters/AFP
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