TOKYO (AP) — Heavy rainfall is hammering southern Japan for the third day, prompting new disaster warnings on Kyushu and Shikoku islands as local media report the death toll has risen to 54 with 44 people missing.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.

The assessment of casualties is difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rain, flooding and landslides.

Authorities warn landslides can strike even after rain subsides as the calamity is shaping up to be potentially the worst in decades.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>KURASHIKI, Japan — The death toll from torrential rain and landslides in western Japan rose to 81 people on Sunday, with dozens still missing after more than 2,000, temporarily stranded in the city of Kurashiki, were rescued.

Evacuation orders were in place for nearly 2 million people and landslide warnings were issued in many prefectures.

In hard-hit western Japan, emergency services and military personnel used helicopters and boats to rescue people from swollen rivers and buildings, including a hospital.

Scores of staff and patients, some still in their pajamas, were rescued from the isolated Mabi Memorial Hospital in boats rowed by members of Japan's Self Defense Forces.

A city official said 170 patients and staff had been evacuated while public broadcaster NHK later said about 80 people were still stranded.

"I'm most grateful to the rescuers," said Shigeyuki Asano, a 79-year-old patient who spent a night without electricity or water. "I feel so relieved that I am now liberated from such a bad-smelling, dark place."

Kurashiki, with a population of just under 500,000, was among the hardest hit by rains that pounded many parts of western Japan, with the death toll exceeding the 77 killed in heavy rains and landslides in 2014 and the highest since a typhoon that killed 98 people in 2004.

Television footage showed a massive rescue operation, with 2,310 rescued in the city by evening, according to NHK, while search and rescue teams continued to look for others.

The overall death toll from the rains in Japan rose to at least 81 on Sunday after floodwaters forced several million people from their homes, media reports and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Another 58 were missing, NHK said, and more rain was set to hit some areas for at least another day.

The rain set off landslides and flooded rivers, trapping many people in their houses or on rooftops.

"This is a situation of extreme danger," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) told a news conference.

A 3-year-old girl whose home was hit by a landslide in Hiroshima prefecture was found dead by a search team.

"It's very painful," said one elderly man watching nearby. "I have a granddaughter the same age. If it were her, I wouldn't be able to stop crying."

Japan's government set up an emergency management center at the prime minister's office and some 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched across a wide swath of western and southwestern Japan.

"There are still many people missing and others in need of help, we are working against time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday morning.

Two sisters from an elementary school of just six pupils on the small island of Nuwa in Ehime prefecture were among the dead. The younger, a first-grader, was a star and the hope of the depopulated island, the principal told NHK.

"It was such a sudden disaster, I just cannot come to grips with it," the principal said.

Emergency warnings for severe rain in 11 prefectures ÿ the most since a new warning system was introduced in 2013 — had been lifted by evening, but advisories for heavy rain and landslides remained in effect in many areas.

TV footage showed convenience stores with shelves mostly bare while elsewhere, residents lined up to receive water. Some 276,000 households were without water supply, Kyodo said.

Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan while Shinkansen bullet train services resumed on a limited schedule after being suspended on Friday.

The rain began late last week as the remnants of a typhoon fed into a seasonal rainy front.

Automakers including Mazda Motor Corp and Daihatsu Motor Co suspended operations at several plants on Saturday and were to decide later on Sunday on plans for the coming week.

Electronics maker Panasonic Corp said one plant in Okayama, western Japan, could not be reached due to road closures, although it had been closed for the weekend anyway. A decision about next week would be made on Monday, it said.</s>(Shingo Nishizume/Kyodo News via AP). Buildings are partially submerged by floodwaters caused by heavy rains in Kure, south western Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwestern Japan.

(Kyodo News via AP). A rescue helicopter hovers over damaged buildings after a landslide caused by heavy rains in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwest...

(Kyodo News via AP). Residential buildings are damaged by a landslide caused by heavy rains in Sakacho, Hiroshima prefecture, south western Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwestern Japan.

(Koki Sengoku/Kyodo News via AP). Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members use a boat to evacuate residentd from a flooded area caused by heavy rains in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and ...

(Takumi Sato/Kyodo News via AP). Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members use a boat to evacuate residents from a flooded area caused by heavy rains in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and f...

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) - Searches continued Sunday night for victims of heavy rainfall that hammered southern Japan for the third straight day, as the government put the death toll at 48, with 28 others presumed dead.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the whereabouts of 92 other people were unknown, mostly in the southern area of Hiroshima prefecture. More than 100 reports of casualties had been received, such as cars being swept away, he said. Some 40 helicopters were out on rescue missions.

"Rescue efforts are a battle with time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. "The rescue teams are doing their utmost."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.

In Hiroshima prefecture, water streamed through a residential area, strewn with fallen telephone poles, uprooted trees and mud. Some homes were smashed.

A woman who was reported as missing after getting trapped in her car was found but was pronounced dead, Kyodo news service reported. In another area in Hiroshima, 12 people went missing when a residential area got sucked into a landslide, and one body was later found.

Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku, issued landslide warnings almost over the entire island. Public broadcaster NHK TV showed overturned cars on roads covered with mud. A convenience store worker, who had fled to a nearby rooftop, said water had reached as high as his head.

The Japanese government set up an emergency office, designed for crises such as major earthquakes. Military paddle boats were also being used to take people to dry land.

Okayama prefecture said in a statement that four people had died, eight others were missing and 11 were injured, at least one of them seriously. Seven homes were destroyed, dozens more were damaged, while more than 570 were flooded.

Kyodo reported several deaths in a landslide in Hiroshima and more bodies were retrieved from collapsed housing in the ancient capital of Kyoto, both areas where the rainfall was heavy in the past few days.

Throughout the hard-hit areas, rivers swelled and parked cars sat in pools of water. Japan has sent troops, firefighters, police and other disaster relief. People have also taken to social media to plead for help.

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/haruka%20nuga

Yuri Kageyama, reporting from Tokyo, is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>KURASHIKI, Japan: Unprecedented rains that have killed at least 69 people also stranded 1,850 in the western Japanese city of Kurashiki on Sunday, including about 130 at a hospital, with rescuers using helicopters and boats after rivers surged over their banks.

Kurashiki, with a population of just under 500,000, has been hit hardest by the torrential rains that pounded some parts of western Japan, causing the highest death toll since 2014.

Scores of patients, some still in their pyjamas, and nurses were rescued from the isolated Mabi Memorial Hospital in boats rowed by members of Japan's Self Defence Forces.

"I'm most grateful to rescuers," said Shigeyuki Asano, a 79-year-old patient who spent a night without electricity or water.

"I feel so relieved that I am now liberated from such a bad-smelling, dark place," said Asano.

A city official said 170 patients and workers had been evacuated from the hospital and another 130 people, including 70 patients, were waiting to be rescued.

Television footage showed a massive rescue operation, with some 1,850 people isolated in the city, according to public broadcaster NHK. Kyodo news reported that most people had been rescued in the city by 1400 JST (0500 GMT)

The overall death toll from the rains in Japan rose to at least 69 on Sunday after floodwaters forced several million people from their homes, media reports and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The death toll is the highest caused by water disasters since 2014 when 77 people were killed in heavy rain which set off landslides in Hiroshima in western Japan.

Another 61 were missing, NHK said, and more rain was set to hit some areas for at least another day.

The rain set off landslides and flooded rivers, trapping many people in their houses or on rooftops.

"We've never experienced this kind of rain before," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) told a news conference. "This is a situation of extreme danger".

Among the missing was a 9-year-old boy believed trapped in his house by a landslide that killed at least three others, including a man in his 80s.

"All I have is what I'm wearing," a rescued woman clutching a toy poodle told NHK. "We had fled to the second floor but then the water rose more, so we went up to the third floor".

Japan's government set up an emergency management centre at the prime minister's office and some 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched across a wide swath of southwestern and western Japan.

"There are still many people missing and others in need of help, we are working against time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

Emergency warnings for severe rain had been lifted by evening, but there were still advisories for heavy rain and landslides.

Evacuation orders stayed in place for nearly 2 million people and another 2.3 million were advised to evacuate, although rain had stopped and floodwaters receded in some areas.

Landslide warnings were issued in more than a quarter of Japan's prefectures.

The rain began late last week as the remnants of a typhoon fed into a seasonal rainy front, with humid, warm air from the Pacific making it still more active - a pattern similar to one that set off flooding in southwestern Japan exactly a year ago that killed dozens. The front then remained in one place for an unusually long time, the JMA said.

Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan. Shinkansen bullet train services resumed on a limited schedule after they were suspended on Friday.

Automakers including Mazda Motor Corp and Daihatsu Motor Co suspended operations at several plants on Saturday due to a shortage of parts or dangerous conditions. They were to decide later on Sunday on plans for the coming week.

Electronics maker Panasonic Corp said one plant in Okayama, western Japan, could not be reached due to road closures, although it had been closed for the weekend anyway. A decision about next week would be made on Monday, it said.

While the Japanese government monitors weather conditions closely and issues warnings from an early stage, the fact that much of the country outside major cities is mountainous and building takes place on virtually every bit of usable land leaves it vulnerable to disasters.</s>Searches continued Sunday night for victims of heavy rainfall that hammered southern Japan for the third straight day, as the government put the death toll at 48, with 28 others presumed dead.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the whereabouts of 92 other people were unknown, mostly in the southern area of Hiroshima prefecture. More than 100 reports of casualties had been received, such as cars being swept away, he said. Some 40 helicopters were out on rescue missions.

"Rescue efforts are a battle with time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. "The rescue teams are doing their utmost."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.

In Hiroshima prefecture, water streamed through a residential area, strewn with fallen telephone poles, uprooted trees and mud. Some homes were smashed.

A woman who was reported as missing after getting trapped in her car was found but was pronounced dead, Kyodo news service reported. In another area in Hiroshima, 12 people went missing when a residential area got sucked into a landslide, and one body was later found.

Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku, issued landslide warnings almost over the entire island. Public broadcaster NHK TV showed overturned cars on roads covered with mud. A convenience store worker, who had fled to a nearby rooftop, said water had reached as high as his head.

The Japanese government set up an emergency office, designed for crises such as major earthquakes. Military paddle boats were also being used to take people to dry land.

Okayama prefecture said in a statement that four people had died, eight others were missing and 11 were injured, at least one of them seriously. Seven homes were destroyed, dozens more were damaged, while more than 570 were flooded.

Kyodo reported several deaths in a landslide in Hiroshima and more bodies were retrieved from collapsed housing in the ancient capital of Kyoto, both areas where the rainfall was heavy in the past few days.

Throughout the hard-hit areas, rivers swelled and parked cars sat in pools of water. Japan has sent troops, firefighters, police and other disaster relief. People have also taken to social media to plead for help.

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/haruka%20nuga

Yuri Kageyama, reporting from Tokyo, is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama</s>TOKYO: At least 44 people have been killed in days of record rains that have devastated parts of Japan, and at least 21 people are missing, local authorities said on Sunday (Jul 8).

The torrential downpours have caused flash flooding and landslides, with local media putting the toll around 50 dead with dozens more unaccounted for.

The toll includes one person killed last week, when the typhoon system that brought the heavy rains first made landfall in Japan, but most of the deaths have been reported in the last two days.

Hundreds of people have been injured, and dozens of homes have been completely destroyed in the disastrous downpours.

The rain, which has been worst in western parts of the country, has completely blanketed some villages, forcing desperate residents to take shelter on their rooftops with flood water swirling below as they waited for rescue.

The government has deployed tens of thousands of rescue workers, police and military personnel to respond to the disaster, and the meteorological agency has issued its highest level warning for affected areas.

More than two million people have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

The disaster is the deadliest rain-related crisis in Japan since 2014, when at least 74 people were killed in landslides caused by torrential downpours in the Hiroshima region.

By Sunday morning, high level alerts had been lifted for some affected areas as the rain began to ease.

But elsewhere in western and central Japan torrential rain was continuing to fall, and the agency issued new top-level warnings for Kochi and Ehime, in the west of the country.</s>The city has been hit hardest by the torrential rains.

KURASHIKI Unprecedented rains that have killed at least 69 people also stranded 1,850 in the Japanese city of Kurashiki yesterday, with rescuers using helicopters and boats after rivers surged over their banks.

Kurashiki has been hit hardest by the torrential rain pounding parts of western Japan.

Scores of patients, some still in their pyjamas, and nurses were rescued from the isolated Mabi Memorial Hospital in boats rowed by members of Japan's Self Defence Forces.

"I am most grateful to rescuers," said 79-year-old Shigeyuki Asano, a patient who spent a night without electricity or water. "I feel so relieved that I am now liberated from such a bad-smelling dark place."

An official said 170 patients and workers had been evacuated from the hospital and another 130 people, including 70 patients, were waiting to be rescued.

Footage showed a massive rescue operation, with some 1,850 people isolated in the city, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The overall death toll from the rains in Japan rose to at least 69 yesterday after floodwaters forced several million people from their homes, media reports and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The death toll is the highest caused by water disasters since 2014, when 77 people were killed in heavy rain that set off landslides in Hiroshima.

Another 61 were missing, NHK said, and more rain was set to hit some areas for at least another day. The rain set off landslides and flooded rivers, trapping many people in their homes or on rooftops.

"We have never experienced this kind of rain before," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency told a news conference. "This is a situation of extreme danger".

Among the missing is a nine-year-old boy believed trapped in his house by a landslide that killed at least three others.

A rescued woman clutching a toy poodle told NHK: "All I have is what I am wearing."

Some 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched.

Emergency warnings for severe rain have been lifted, but there were still advisories for heavy rain and landslides. Evacuation orders stayed in place for nearly two million people and another 2.3 million were advised to evacuate.

The rain began late last week as the remnants of a typhoon fed into a seasonal rainy front.

Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan. Shinkansen bullet train services resumed on a limited schedule after they were suspended on Friday.</s>HIROSHIMA: The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose on Sunday (Jul 7) to at least 44, officials said, with authorities issuing new warnings as torrential downpours continued.

Local media put the toll at 50, with dozens more missing and the number of fatalities expected to rise further.

The official toll includes one person killed last week, when the typhoon system that brought the heavy rains first made landfall in Japan, but most of the deaths have been reported in the last few days.

The rain, which has been worst in western parts of the country, has completely blanketed some villages, forcing desperate residents to take shelter on their rooftops with flood water swirling below as they waited for rescue.

The torrential downpours have caused flash flooding and landslides, and prompted authorities to order the evacuation of two million people.

Hundreds have been injured and dozens of homes have been completely destroyed in the disastrous downpours.

"We are carrying out rescue operations around the clock," Yoshihide Fujitani, a disaster management official in Hiroshima prefecture, told AFP.

"We are also looking after evacuees and restoring lifeline infrastructure like water and gas," he added.

"We are doing our best."

A government official told AFP a special crisis cell had been created to respond to the disaster and would hold a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday morning.

On Saturday, Abe warned at an emergency government meeting that "the situation is extremely serious" and ordered his government to "make an all-out effort" to rescue those affected.

Tens of thousands of rescue workers, police and military personnel have been mobilised to respond to the disaster, and the meteorological agency has issued its highest level warning for affected areas.

Flooding has engulfed entire villages, submerging streets up to roof level. In some places, just the top of traffic lights could be seen above the rising waters.

"My house was simply washed away and completely destroyed," Toshihide Takigawa, a 35-year-old employee at a gas station in Hiroshima, told the Nikkei daily on Saturday.

"I was in a car and massive floods of water gushed towards me from the front and back and then engulfed the road. I was just able to escape, but I was terrified," 62-year-old Yuzo Hori told the Mainichi Shimbun daily in Hiroshima.

Though the typhoon began last week, the worst of the rain hit from Thursday, when a construction worker was swept away by floodwaters in Hyogo prefecture in western Japan.

The toll has risen steadily since then, with many of those reported missing later confirmed dead.

The conditions made rescue operations difficult, with some desperate citizens taking to Twitter to call for help.

"Water came to the middle of the second floor," a woman in Kurashiki, Okayama wrote, posting a picture of her room half swamped by flooding.

"The kids could not climb up to the rooftop," she said. "My body temperature has lowered. Rescue us quickly. Help us."

In some place, with the flooding making roads impassable, rescuers were using boats or helicopters to airlift those affected to safety.

Several major manufacturers, including carmakers Daihatsu and Mitsubishi, said they had suspended operations at plants in the affected areas.

The disaster is the deadliest rain-related crisis in Japan since 2014, when at least 74 people were killed in landslides caused by torrential downpours in the Hiroshima region.

By Sunday morning, high level alerts had been lifted for some affected areas as the rain began to ease.

But elsewhere in western and central Japan torrential rain was continuing to fall, and the agency issued new top-level warnings for Kochi and Ehime, in the west of the country.</s>HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Searches continued Sunday night for victims of heavy rainfall that hammered southern Japan for the third straight day, as the government put the death toll at 48, with 28 others presumed dead.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the whereabouts of 92 other people were unknown, mostly in the southern area of Hiroshima prefecture. More than 100 reports of casualties had been received, such as cars being swept away, he said. Some 40 helicopters were out on rescue missions.

"Rescue efforts are a battle with time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. "The rescue teams are doing their utmost."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.

In Hiroshima prefecture, water streamed through a residential area, strewn with fallen telephone poles, uprooted trees and mud. Some homes were smashed.

A woman who was reported as missing after getting trapped in her car was found but was pronounced dead, Kyodo news service reported. In another area in Hiroshima, 12 people went missing when a residential area got sucked into a landslide, and one body was later found.

Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku, issued landslide warnings almost over the entire island. Public broadcaster NHK TV showed overturned cars on roads covered with mud. A convenience store worker, who had fled to a nearby rooftop, said water had reached as high as his head.

The Japanese government set up an emergency office, designed for crises such as major earthquakes. Military paddle boats were also being used to take people to dry land.

Okayama prefecture said in a statement that four people had died, eight others were missing and 11 were injured, at least one of them seriously. Seven homes were destroyed, dozens more were damaged, while more than 570 were flooded.

Kyodo reported several deaths in a landslide in Hiroshima and more bodies were retrieved from collapsed housing in the ancient capital of Kyoto, both areas where the rainfall was heavy in the past few days.

Throughout the hard-hit areas, rivers swelled and parked cars sat in pools of water. Japan has sent troops, firefighters, police and other disaster relief. People have also taken to social media to plead for help.

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/haruka%20nuga

Yuri Kageyama, reporting from Tokyo, is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama</s>HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Searches continued Sunday night for victims of heavy rainfall that hammered southern Japan for the third straight day, as the government put the death toll at 48, with 28 others presumed dead.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the whereabouts of 92 other people were unknown, mostly in the southern area of Hiroshima prefecture. More than 100 reports of casualties had been received, such as cars being swept away, he said. Some 40 helicopters were out on rescue missions.

"Rescue efforts are a battle with time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. "The rescue teams are doing their utmost."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.

In Hiroshima prefecture, water streamed through a residential area, strewn with fallen telephone poles, uprooted trees and mud. Some homes were smashed.

A woman who was reported as missing after getting trapped in her car was found but was pronounced dead, Kyodo news service reported. In another area in Hiroshima, 12 people went missing when a residential area got sucked into a landslide, and one body was later found.

Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku, issued landslide warnings almost over the entire island. Public broadcaster NHK TV showed overturned cars on roads covered with mud. A convenience store worker, who had fled to a nearby rooftop, said water had reached as high as his head.

The Japanese government set up an emergency office, designed for crises such as major earthquakes. Military paddle boats were also being used to take people to dry land.

Okayama prefecture said in a statement that four people had died, eight others were missing and 11 were injured, at least one of them seriously. Seven homes were destroyed, dozens more were damaged, while more than 570 were flooded.

Kyodo reported several deaths in a landslide in Hiroshima and more bodies were retrieved from collapsed housing in the ancient capital of Kyoto, both areas where the rainfall was heavy in the past few days.

Throughout the hard-hit areas, rivers swelled and parked cars sat in pools of water. Japan has sent troops, firefighters, police and other disaster relief. People have also taken to social media to plead for help.

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/haruka%20nuga

Yuri Kageyama, reporting from Tokyo, is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
The death toll from heavy rains in Japan rises to 49.