Tens were killed and millions were evacuated

TOKYO – Torrential rains in central and western Japan triggered floods and landslides in several residential areas, killing dozens and causing weather warnings in four districts of the country [19659002]. were missing, according to the public broadcaster NHK. More than one million people in 18 districts had been ordered to evacuate their homes, and another 3.5 million had been asked to leave.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported Saturday that rainfall in many affected areas had reached record levels. some regions report rainfall two or three times higher than the monthly average for the entire month of July for only five days.

"It's a record rain we've ever known," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Meeting, urging his cabinet to take" every step to prevent the disaster from getting worse by taking anticipated measures. "

Some 48,000 emergency responders from police, fire and defense forces participate in search and rescue operations The Secretary-General of the Government, Yoshihide Suga, said:

A man is died after falling from a bridge in a river in the city of Hiroshima, to the southwest, and another died after being washed away by an old channel, an elderly woman was found dead in his house after a mudslide swept it.

Images posted on social networks, allegedly taken in the city of Takehara in Hiroshima prefecture, show mud and Although rainfall has declined in many areas on Saturday night, the National Meteorological Service warned that flooding could continue in some areas, including Gifu, Hiroshima and Shimane. A 40-year-old couple in the 40-year-old town of Kagoshima in the south of the country, reported the public broadcaster, after neighbors said they heard a thud and sawn sound. a collapse of the hill. The couple is still missing and the police and firefighters are looking for them.

In Kurashiki town in Okayama prefecture, a region particularly hit by floods, a nursing home was flooded, leaving the public in distress.

A riverbank collapsed in the city, flooding much of the area and causing hundreds of people to shelter on their roofs where they were waiting to be saved by boat and by helicopter.

The national public broadcaster warned Saturday night that evacuees orders should immediately be transferred to municipal shelters, but for those who can not leave, they advise moving to a higher level of the house.