Floods spread to central Japan as rains continue
A railway track bent by flooding in Kumamura in Japan. Rescuers scrambled to reach thousands of homes cut off by catastrophic flooding and landslides that have killed dozens.
Flooding and mudslides have stranded hundreds of people in scenic hot springs and hiking areas in central Japan, while rescue workers searched yesterday for more people missing in rain-related disasters that have already killed more than 60 people.
Parts of Nagano and Gifu, including areas known for scenic mountain trails and hot springs, have been flooded by massive downpours that have lasted for nearly a week.
More than 300 people, including hotel employees and visitors, were trapped in Kamikochi, as floods and mudslides hit a main road connecting the town to Matsumoto, another tourist destination in Nagano. All of the stranded people were safe, prefectural officials said.
In neighboring Gifu, hundreds were also isolated in the hot spring towns of Gero and Ontake.
As of yesterday evening, the death toll from the heavy rains that started over the weekend had risen to 63, most of them from hardest-hit Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s third largest island of Kyushu. Fourteen of the victims were residents at a riverside nursing home.
Searching continued for a dozen people still missing in Kumamoto and several others elsewhere on the island.
