KURASHIKI, Japan — Rescuers in Japan dug through mud and rubble on Monday, racing to find survivors after torrential rains unleashed widespread floods and landslides that killed nearly 100, with dozens missing.

Rain tapered off across the western region battered by last week's downpour, revealing blue skies and scorching sun forecast to push temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86°F), fuelling fears of heatstroke in areas cut off from power or water.

"We cannot take baths, the toilet doesn't work and our food stockpile is running low," said Yumeko Matsui, whose home in the city of Mihara has been without water since Saturday.

"Bottled water and bottled tea are all gone from convenience stores and other shops," the 23-year-old nursery school worker said at an emergency water supply station.

About 12,700 customers had no electricity on Monday, power companies said. Tens of thousands had no water, Japanese media said.

The death toll from the rains reached at least 94 after floodwaters forced several million people from their homes, NHK national television said, the highest toll since 98 people were killed in a typhoon in 2004.

Industry operations have also been hit, with Mazda Motor Corp saying it was forced to close its head office in Hiroshima on Monday.

The automaker, which suspended operations at several plants because of the rains last week, said the halt would continue at two plants until Tuesday, as it cannot receive components, though both were undamaged.

Refineries and oil terminals were not affected, but blocked roads limited access to one Showa Shell oil terminal in the city, causing gas and diesel shortages nearby.

At one landslide in Hiroshima, shattered piles of lumber marked the sites of former homes, television images showed. Others had been tossed upside down.

"Nobody's heard from my next door neighbor," one man told NHK. "I hope they find him soon."

Water still swirled through most of the hard-hit city of Kurashiki, despite ebbing floods that opened the route to a hospital where nearly 100 patients and staff had been stranded on Sunday.

Thousands flocked to evacuation centers in the city's district of Mabi.

"Nobody has anything to wear. We need shirts, trousers, underwear, socks and even shoes," its mayor, Kaori Ito, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Although evacuation orders were scaled back from the weekend, nearly 2 million people still face orders or advice to keep away from homes, fire and disaster officials said.

An emergency management center has been set up at the prime minister's office, with about 54,000 rescuers, drawn from the military, police and fire departments, fanning out across the west and southwest.

Japan monitors weather conditions and issues warnings early, but its dense population means every bit of usable land is built on in the mostly mountainous nation, leaving it prone to disasters.</s>More than 130 people have died after heavy rainfall caused flooding and mudslides in south-western Japan. Rescuers are searching for more than 50 unaccounted for people in and around the hardest hit Hiroshima area. Work under the scorching sun was hampered by mud and heat, and shipments of relief goods were delayed by damaged roads and transportation systems, especially in areas isolated by the disaster.

“No water, food, nothing gets here,” Ichiro Tanabe, a 73-year-old Kure resident, told the Mainichi newspaper. “We are going to be all dried up if we continue to be isolated.” Some of the thousands of residents who had been evacuated, including some rescued from their rooftops, began cleaning up after the rain stopped Monday. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government set up a taskforce and was spending 2 billion yen (£13.6 million) to hasten deliveries of supplies and other support for evacuation centres and residents in the region. Earlier on Tuesday, the Self-Defence Force ferried seven oil trucks from Hiroshima to Kure, a major industrial city whose 226,000 residents were cut off from the rest of the prefecture due to the disaster.

Thousands of homes were still without clean water and electricity in Hiroshima and other hard-hit areas. Residents lined up for water under the scorching sun as temperatures rose to 35C (95F), raising risks of heat stroke. Residents sheltering at a local school in Hiroshima’s Yano district were provided with water, blankets and phone chargers. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cancelled a planned trip to Europe and the Middle East to oversee the emergency response. The government mobilised 75,000 troops and emergency workers and nearly 80 helicopters for the search and rescue effort, Mr Suga said. Assessment of the casualties was slowed down by the scale of the area affected. Officials in Ehime prefecture asked the government to review its weather warning system, noting that rain warnings were issued after damage and casualties had already occurred. The Japan Meteorological Agency said as much as 10cm of rain per hour fell on large parts of south-western Japan.</s>KURASHIKI - 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 three-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 - 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 (7261.T) 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 (6752.T) 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>Yoshihide Suga said at least ten people were still missing, though local media said dozens were still unaccounted for as rescue operations continue

The death toll in days of heavy rain that devastated parts of Japan with floods and landslides has risen to at least 141, the top government spokesman said today.

Yoshihide Suga said at least ten people were still missing, though local media said dozens were still unaccounted for as rescue operations continue.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</s>Torrential rains kill at least 81 in western Japan

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 Defence 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 three-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 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 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 - 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>HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on heavy rains and flooding in western Japan (all times local):

The Japanese government says at least 100 people have died or are presumed dead from the heavy rains, floods and mudslides that have struck western Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Monday that 68 people were unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area.

Suga said 87 people were confirmed dead and 13 others had no vital signs when they were found as of early Monday.

Searches and cleanup efforts were taking place in the southwestern region where several days of heavy rainfall set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area.

People are preparing for risky search and cleanup efforts in southwestern Japan, where several days of heavy rainfall had set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area. Japanese media reports said 88 people died and 58 people are missing.

Some residents in Hiroshima prefecture said they were caught off guard in a region not used to torrents of rainfall, which began Friday and worsened through the weekend. Rivers overflowed, turning towns into lakes, leaving dozens of people stranded on rooftops. Military paddle boats and helicopters were bringing people to dry land.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.</s>TOKYO, July 10 — The death toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan with flooding and landslides rose today to 156, the top government spokesman said.

Search-and-rescue operations are continuing after the worst weather-related disaster in Japan in over three decades, with dozens of people still believed missing. — AFP</s>The Latest: Pope prays for victims of Japan floods

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on heavy rains and flooding in western Japan (all times local):

Pope Francis is praying for the victims of Japan's flooding and is encouraging civil authorities involved in search and rescue operations.

Francis sent a note of condolences to Catholic church authorities on Monday, saying he was "deeply saddened" to learn of the loss of life. At least 100 people are believed to have died, and another 80 people are unaccounted for, after heavy rains and mudslides thrashed southern Japan.

In the message, Francis expressed his solidarity with all those affected, offered his encouragement to rescue crews and said he was praying for the dead and injured "and the consolation of all those who grieve."

European Union chief Donald Tusk has suggested moving the postponed summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Tokyo next week.

Abe was set to visit Tusk on Wednesday to sign a free trade pact with the EU but was forced to abandon a trip to Europe to oversee the emergency response to deadly heavy rains.

Tusk said that the "EU will help in any way we can." He added that "in view of the tragic circumstances, we are ready to move our EU-Japan Summit from Brussels to Tokyo next week."

Japan's government says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has canceled his planned July 11-18 trip to Europe and the Middle East to oversee the emergency response to deadly heavy rains.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters Monday at least 103 people have died or are presumed dead from the heavy rains, floods and mudslides that have struck large parts of western Japan. He said 80 people were unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area.

Suga said Abe was scheduled to visit Belgium, France, South Arabia and Egypt, beginning Wednesday. Abe was expected to sign a free trade pact with EU while in Europe.

The Japanese government says at least 100 people have died or are presumed dead from the heavy rains, floods and mudslides that have struck western Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Monday that 68 people were unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area.

Suga said 87 people were confirmed dead and 13 others had no vital signs when they were found as of early Monday.

Searches and cleanup efforts were taking place in the southwestern region where several days of heavy rainfall set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area.

People are preparing for risky search and cleanup efforts in southwestern Japan, where several days of heavy rainfall had set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area. Japanese media reports said 88 people died and 58 people are missing.

Some residents in Hiroshima prefecture said they were caught off guard in a region not used to torrents of rainfall, which began Friday and worsened through the weekend. Rivers overflowed, turning towns into lakes, leaving dozens of people stranded on rooftops. Military paddle boats and helicopters were bringing people to dry land.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.</s>HIROSHIMA, Japan — The Latest on search effort after heavy rains and flooding in western Japan (all times local):

Japan’s government says at least 134 people have been confirmed dead from the heavy rains, floods and mudslides that have struck western Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Tuesday that seven others were without vital signs, and more than 50 people were unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area.

Searches and cleanup efforts were taking place in the southwestern region where several days of heavy rainfall set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area. All rain warnings were lifted. As floodwater largely subsided, more damages became visible.

Rescuers are combing through mud-covered hillsides and near riverbanks to look for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan, where the death toll has risen to 122.

Officials and reports say more than 80 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that 122 people have been confirmed dead as of early Tuesday.

Several days of heavy rainfall that weather officials have called historic set off flooding and landslides in widespread areas of western Japan, including Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime prefectures.

Thousands of people have evacuated their homes. Many returned to on their homes and begin cleanup Monday after the rain stopped and weather warnings were lifted.</s>The Latest: 134 confirmed dead as Japan searches for missing

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on search effort after heavy rains and flooding in western Japan (all times local):

Japan's government says at least 134 people have been confirmed dead from the heavy rains, floods and mudslides that have struck western Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Tuesday that seven others were without vital signs, and more than 50 people were unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area.

Searches and cleanup efforts were taking place in the southwestern region where several days of heavy rainfall set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area. All rain warnings were lifted. As floodwater largely subsided, more damages became visible.

Rescuers are combing through mud-covered hillsides and near riverbanks to look for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan, where the death toll has risen to 122.

Officials and reports say more than 80 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that 122 people have been confirmed dead as of early Tuesday.

Several days of heavy rainfall that weather officials have called historic set off flooding and landslides in widespread areas of western Japan, including Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime prefectures.

Thousands of people have evacuated their homes. Many returned to on their homes and begin cleanup Monday after the rain stopped and weather warnings were lifted.
The death toll from heavy rains in Japan rises to 155 while several other people are still missing.