Search-and-rescue crews in Japan fanned out across towns in the country's southern region on Tuesday as the death toll from devastating flooding ticked upward.
At least 53 people have died in Japan’s southern region of Kyushu after pounding rain since Friday triggered widespread flooding and landslides. More heavy rain is expected.
“We are racing against time,” Yutaro Hamasaki, a Kumamoto official, told Kyodo News on Tuesday. “We have not set any deadline or time to end the operation, but we really need to speed up our search as time is running out. We won’t give up to the end."
JAPAN FLOODING DEATH TOLL RISES TO 49 AS MORE HEAVY RAIN HITS REGION
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 52 victims were from riverside towns in the Kumamoto prefecture. A dozen are still missing
A man walks on a heavily damaged road following heavy rain in Kumamura, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan Monday, July 6, 2020. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)
Another of the dead confirmed as of Tuesday morning was a woman in her 80s found inside her flooded home in another prefecture.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday the government would double rescue and relief personnel, from day-earlier levels to 80,000, including some 20,000 Self-Defense Force troops, Reuters reported.
In Fukuoka, on the northern part of the island, three soldiers were seen on Tuesday wading through knee-high water pulling a boat carrying a mother, her 2-month-old baby, and two other residents.
Japan Self Defense Force members rescue residents on a boat on a flooded road hit by heavy rain in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, southern Japan Tuesday, July 7, 2020. (Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)
An older woman told Japanese broadcaster NHK she started walking down the road to evacuate, but floodwater rose quickly up to her neck. Another woman said, “I was almost washed away and had to grab an electrical pole.”
Japan Self Defense Force members rescue residents on a rubber boat on a flooded road hit by heavy rain in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, southern Japan Tuesday, July 7, 2020. (Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)
About 3 million residents were advised to evacuate across Kyushu, Japan's third-largest island.
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More rain was predicted in Kyushu and the western half of Japan's main island as the rain front moved east.
Debris is scattered at a residential area hit by heavy rain in Kumamura, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan Tuesday, July 7, 2020. (Kota Endo/Kyodo News via AP)
Kyodo News reported at least 71 landslides across 12 prefectures. Rescue operations have been hampered by the floodwater and continuing harsh weather.
Yuji Hashimoto, who runs a tourism bureau in the hot-spring resort in Yatsushiro, told Kyodo News the “beautiful tourism spot dramatically changed overnight.”
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“The damage was beyond our imagination. It’s literally a bolt from the blue," he told the news outlet.
Debris are seen on a residential area hit by heavy rain in Kumamura, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan Tuesday, July 7, 2020. (Kota Endo/Kyodo News via AP)
Among the dead include 14 residents of a nursing home next to the Kuma River, known as the “raging river” because it is joined by another river just upstream and is prone to flooding. Its embankment fell, letting water gush into the nursing home.
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The system causing the rain is forecast to remain over the region until Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a daily news briefing.
“Rain is expected over a wide front stretching from western to eastern Japan,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Japan flooding death toll rises to 53, a dozen missing as torrential rains spread through region - Fox News
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