Japan floods: 25 dead, but worst said to be over
A quarter of a million people in Japan had been ordered to evacuate due to the floods, but the rains subsided Sunday allowing many to return home.
A residential area is submerged by a torrential rain overnight in Kyoto, western Japan Sunday. Heavy rain triggered flash floods in western Japan after days of rains caused heavy damages in southern Japan which killed more than twenty.
Associated Press
Tokyo
Officials say at least 25 people have died and thousands of others remain cut off by floods and mudslides triggered by torrential rains in southern Japan.
Evacuation orders issued a day earlier for a quarter of a million people were lifted in most areas Sunday as the rains subsided, allowing many people to return home.
But thousands remained cut off by landslides or fallen trees that blocked roads in mountainous areas.
Local officials said 21 people died in hardest-hit Kumamoto prefecture. Four others died in nearby Oita and Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu.
Seven others remained missing. Most victims were in their 70s and 80s.
Houses in Kyoto, Japan's old capital, also were flooded.
The Meteorological Agency said the worst was over but predicted more rain through Monday.