The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads.</s>TOKYO (AP) - Rescue workers have found four more bodies in southern Japan, bringing the death toll from heavy rain to six with about 20 more missing.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu Friday after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier this week, dumping torrential rain that has wrecked homes, roads and rice terraces.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says 12,000 troops and rescuers are focusing on remote villages where hundreds are stranded. Rescue operations have been slowed down by mud and floodwaters and more flooding is forecast for the country's east.

Firefighters walk on the damaged road following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were still in effect for some areas on the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier this week, bringing disturbing rain clouds to follow. Heavy rain moved to northern Kyushu, threatening flooding there.(Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)

Houses are collapsed and half-buried in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Houses are collapsed and half-buried in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

In this July 6, 2017 photo, local residents walk on a damaged road to a safer place following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan. Troops worked Thursday to rescue hundreds of people stranded by flooding in southern Japan. (Takuto Kaneko/Kyodo News via AP)</s>At least seven people are dead and dozen are missing, and at least 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes following “once in a lifetime” torrential rains in Japan since July 4 in the wake of Tropical Storm Nanmadol and a seasonal rain front that continues to hang over the western Japanese island of Kyushu. With dozens still missing and rains forecasted to continue into the weekend, the death toll will likely rise.

Downpours of at least 55 centimeters have been recorded in Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, since Wednesday, July 5—about 50 percent more than usual for the month of July. So far the hardest-hit communities have been Asakura in Fukuoka Prefecture, where at six are dead following landslides, and Hita, in neighboring Oita Prefecture, where flooding has swept away roads and railway lines and left hundreds stranded.

Localities in northern Kyushu are all receiving record amounts of precipitation. A special weather warning from Japan's national meteorological service has been issued for 16 communities in Fukuoka and 15 in Oita. This is the first time a special weather warning has ever been issued for Kyushu since the warning was put into effect in 2013.

As torrential, record-breaking rains continued throughout the week, the military was mobilized in order to evacuate thousands, and search for survivors.

A challenge in the initial days was that the chaos of widespread flooding made rescuing survivors difficult.

Daily life has been disrupted in Yamada, in Asakura City in Fukuoka Prefecture. Houses in my neighborhood have mostly been swept away. Seven people who have taken refuge on the second story of a factory here have been unable to be evacuated and have been left behind. If the local firefighters can't get in… I just hope someone can help us.

Some of the most striking images of the disaster came from Yamada, in the city of Asakura, in Fukuoka Prefecture. Raging rivers swept piles of debris into the center of the community, blocking roads and hampering rescue operations.

In Oita Prefecture, a rail line and bridges were washed away, and thousands of residents were left stranded.

The rains affected northern Kyushu the most, where some areas in Fukuoka and Oita Prefectures (shaded in purple in the map in the tweet below) received over 50 centimeters of precipitation.

The weather pattern was extremely unusual for Japan, combining the effects of the seasonal rain front and the remnants of a large tropical storm to drop torrents of rain on Kyushu.

By Friday, July 7, as the rains continued, so did rescue operations in a desperate struggle to find survivors of mud slides and flooding.

As of Friday, July 7, rain was still forecast for Kyushu and western Japan.</s>TOKYO (AP) - The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Firefighters inspect the collapsed houses in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 8, 2017. The southern island of Kyushu suffered heavy rain after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week, dumping large amounts of rain that damaged homes, roads and rice fields. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads.</s>Japan floods: Six dead, 22 missing as rain continues over northern Kyushu

Severe flooding in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu has claimed six lives, with rescuers still working to get food and medical supplies to more than 1,000 people left stranded.

More than 12,000 personnel have been conscripted to help with the relief effort, digging through piles of splintered wood and mud in the wake of freak rains that forced nearly 80,000 from their homes.

This number was down from more than 400,000 at the peak of the rains, with tens of thousands more advised to leave their homes.

The Government said six people had died and 22 remained unaccounted for as rain continued to fall over northern Kyushu on Friday, amid warnings of further landslides.

Parts of Fukuoka, on the south-western island of Kyushu, were hit by 593 millimetres of rain in the 48 hours to 9:00am on Friday (local time), well over the rainfall of a usual July, the meteorological agency said.

"At first, it wasn't raining that much," said Sumie Umeyo, a resident of Asakura in south-central Fukuoka.

"But they spoke of record-breaking rain and it started raining heavily, then they began closing the roads.

About 500 people were rescued yesterday when rivers across the region broke their banks and landslides cut off roads.

They said 1,100 people were still isolated on Friday and that Japan's military was transporting food and medical supplies wherever they could.

Heavy rain continued to fall, shifting to the northern part of Kyushu, although emergency rain warnings were lifted.

Large boulders and uprooted trees littered the landscape as thousands of soldiers, police officers and firefighters waded through debris and mud to reach several hundred people cut off by landslides.

Fukuoka and neighbouring Oita, the hardest hit by the rain, are both largely rural prefectures but rivers were also rising in the city of Kitakyushu, which has a population of some 950,000, and issued evacuation orders for several districts.

The rain was caused by a low pressure area over the Pacific that fed warm, moist air into Japan's seasonal rainy front.</s>The death toll from flooding in Japan has risen to 15.

Heavy rain in the south of the country caused rivers to burst their banks, destroying buildings and roads.

Around 15 people have been reported missing and rescuers are battling through heavy mud to reach those stranded.

Hundreds of others have been evacuated from Fukuoka prefecture.</s>Tokyo — The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported yesterday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu — the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands — after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 600 believed to still be cut off, according to Jiji Press.

Jiji and public broadcaster NHK reported the death toll had risen to 15 as more bodies were discovered.

The central government announced Friday an official death toll of seven with 22 people unaccounted for.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters to be ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out “SOS” for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimeters of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

“My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area, and I have absolutely no information about the situation there,” Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told Agence France-Presse Friday, referring to a district in the city.

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.</s>The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported Saturday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 600 believed to still be cut off according to Jiji Press.

Jiji and public broadcaster NHK reported the death toll had risen to 15 as more bodies were discovered.

The central government announced Friday an official death toll of seven with 22 people unaccounted for.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters to be ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiancée decided to postpone Saturday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement.</s>The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, a government official said Saturday, as rescuers continued work to evacuate isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 500 believed to still be cut off, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters early Saturday that the death toll "rose to 15" and 16 people were still missing.

Local governments announced Friday that a total of eight people have died.

"The region is expected to see a localised heavy rain today," Suga said, advising local residents to gather information from the governments and media.

Separately, three women were found dead at the sea facing Saga prefecture, near the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, NHK said, adding that they were likely the victims of the heavy rain.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters and ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS" for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiancé decided to postpone Saturday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement.</s>The broadcaster said the assessment was not final as large parts of the rural areas in Kyushu were still hard to reach after falling trees and landslides blocked roads.

The prefectures of Fukuoka and Oita were hit the hardest. Some parts of Kyushu saw the heaviest rainfall in at least 40 years. Some 2,200 people are living in evacuation centers there.
The death toll from flooding on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu rises to 15, with six others missing.