Japan continues searching for missing people, and evacuating those stranded by floods and mudslides.
66 people are confirmed to have died, most of them on Kyushu, the country’s third-largest main island.
More than 3 million people have been evacuated after heavy rainfall landed on the island, triggering floods and mudslides which destroyed houses and roads.
The residents in Kumamoto prefecture were urged to leave the area, but the evacuation was not mandatory and many stayed home due to fears about coronavirus, according to AP.
At least 65 residents and 30 caregivers were trapped in one elderly care home after floodwaters and mud rushed in. Some 14 of them are believed to be dead while others were taken to hospitals by boats.
Officials assured the shelters were equipped with safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Many buildings along the Kuma River were submerged up to their roofs.
The weather front has now moved northeast, battering vast areas of Honshu – Japan’s largest and most populous island – after devastating the southern part of the country.
A man walks past a road which collapsed during heavy rain in Kuma, Kumamoto prefecture. July 7, 2020Charly Triballeau/AFPA vehicle overturned and a tree felled by a heavy rain in Hita, Oita prefecture, southern Japan. July 8, 2020Kyodo News via APA building was washed away by floods due to torrential rain in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 5, 2020STR/AFPA man walks on a badly damaged road following heavy rain in Kumamura in southern Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture on July 6, 2020Koji Harada/APA man surveys his parents’ house destroyed by heavy rain in Kuma village in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture. July 8, 2020Kenzaburo Fukuhara/APA car leans against a building after heavy rain in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 6, 2020Yuki Sato/Kyodo News via APMembers of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force evacuate people to safety by boat in Kuma village, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 5, 2020Kyodo News via APResidents are rescued by boat following heavy rain in Kumamura, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 5, 2020Kyodo News via APA woman shovels mud in front of her restaurant following heavy rain in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 5, 2020Yuki Sato/APA car stands vertically on a muddy road after being washed away by floods, in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 5, 2020Kyodo News via APChildren wearing face masks walk at a shelter after being evacuated, in Ashikita town, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 4, 2020Kyodo News via APStreets are flooded following a heavy rain in Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture, southern Japan. 8 July 2020Kyodo News via APThis aerial view shows the Kuma River flooded by heavy rain in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 4, 2020Kyodo News via APAreas are inundated by muddy waters that gushed out from the Kuma River in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. July 4, 2020Kyodo News via AP
