Japan floods: Toll reaches 85, 2mn forced to evacuate

TIL Desk/World/Tokyo/ The death toll from the devastating floods after record rains pounded Japan has increased to 85, with two million others forced to evacuate from their homes, authorities said on Monday. At least 58 people have been reported missing and six were in critical condition, reports said.

“The record rainfalls in various parts of the country have caused rivers to burst their banks, and triggered large scale floods and landslides in several areas,” Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday.

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed or damaged. In all, eight prefectures have been affected, including Kyoto and Hiroshima. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has upgraded its alert system to the highest level in large areas of western Japan, while lifting the warning in other regions.

Japanese public broadcaster reported about 364 mm of rain fell in some two hours over the weekend in the city of Uwajima — approximately 1.5 times the average monthly rainfall for July. Sukumo city in Kochi prefecture received 263 mm of rain in almost the same period of time.