Emergency Workers Embark on Late-Night Rescues in Joso City

Tens of thousands of people were ordered to flee homes across Japan yesterday as heavy rain pounded the country, sending radiation-tainted waters into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

As the sun came out today (Sept 11), shocked residents and officials began to take stock of the damage wrought the previous day when a rain-swollen river burst through its eastern bank, pouring in water so rapidly that many people could only clamber upstairs or to their roofs to escape. Three were injured, including one seriously. At least 800,000 more residents were told to evacuate; warnings about continued rainfall were sent to at least 5 million people.

Because of the flood, an embankment of the Kinugawa River broke which led floodwater into Joso city of Ibaraki prefecture.

We will be collecting images from this event, and the gallery at the top of this page will continue to be updated.

Officials in the city of 60,000, about 50km northeast of Tokyo, said 22 people there had lost contact after requesting help.

Rain interrupted train services in eastern and north-western Japan, including the Shinkansen (popularly known as bullet train) line between Fukushima and Shinjo stations.

She said the muddy water was ankle-deep when they left their house, carrying duffel bags and an umbrella each, and was nearly up to their hips when they reached the evacuation center.

“I’ve never seen the Kinugawa river burst its banks”, 63-year-old Joso resident Akira Yoshihara said.

A rescuer descended four times from a military helicopter to lift four people, one by one.

Nearby, a man clung to a pole as the waters rose.

A 63-year old woman was missing in a landslide that hit her home while a man in his 70s in the town of Joso, 56km north of Tokyo, was feared trapped when water engulfed his home, NHK national television said.

Japan’s Land Infrastructure agency says “the water covers as much as 37 square kilometers [14 square miles]”, NHK News reports.

The rain got here on the heels of Tropical Storm Etau, which brought about comparable flooding and landslides Wednesday because it crossed central Japan.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Thursday to focus on the hardest hit areas and “prioritize the safety of the people”.

“The government will stand united and do its best to deal with the disaster…by putting its highest priority on people’s lives”, he told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse.