Japan’s devastating rains move north as millions told to evacuate

Pounding rains that have already caused deadly floods in southern Japan have moved northeast, hammering large areas of Japan’s main island, swelling rivers, triggering mudslides and destroying homes and roads.

At least 58 people have died over several days of flooding. By Wednesday morning, parts of Nagano and Gifu in central Japan were flooded by unremitting downpours. Footage on NHK television showed swollen water in the Hida River gouging into the embankment, destroying a national highway along the river. In the city of Gero, river water rose to just below a bridge.

In the mountainous town of Takayama, several houses were hit by a mudslide, with uprooted trees and other debris scattered around. It was not immediately known what happened to the residents.

Across Japan, about 3.6m people were advised to evacuate, although evacuation is not mandatory and the number of people who actually took shelter was not provided by authorities…

 

Japan flooding: Death toll rises as heavy rain wreaks havoc

Days of heavy rains in southern Japan have triggered devastating landslides and flash floods, killing nearly 60 people. About 3.6 million people have been advised to leave their homes across the country. Heavy rains continued to batter large parts of Japan’s southern region on Wednesday, causing rivers to burst their banks and hillsides to collapse.

Authorities said Wednesday that torrential rain was now pounding central Japan, with the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issuing warnings for Gifu and Nagano prefectures.

The heavy rainfall, which began early Saturday in southern Japan, was moving toward the northeastern parts of the country…