TOKYO (AFP) – Torrential rains have killed at least two people on a southern Japanese island and left one missing, reports said Thursday, with the weather agency warning of possible mudslides and more rain to come.
The heavy rains — part of the knock-on effect of super Typhoon Megi — have battered the subtropical island chain of Amami since Monday night, leaving two women dead at a nursing home, Jiji Press and Kyodo News said.
Landslides destroyed houses on the main Amami-oshima island, some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) southwest of Tokyo, with an 88-year-old woman missing and a man, 61, injured, the reports said.
A river burst its banks near another nursing home, trapping about 100 residents and employees in the building. By Thursday morning, 10 remained stuck.
“Damp air from Typhoon Megi is feeding into the rain front over southern Japan, bringing heavy rains to the area,” said a weather agency official.
Local authorities have issued evacuation advisories to more than 2,100 islanders, while landslides and floods have cut off power supplies, telephone lines and major roads, they said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said 647 millimetres (25.88 inches) of rain fell in the city of Amami over 24 hours, adding mudslides and flooding were now a danger.
