TSUNAGI: Japan will deploy more troops to search for survivors of devastating floods and landslides that have killed at least 52 people in the southwest of the country, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Tuesday.

Even as rescue operations continued, with 80,000 personnel already involved and more expected to join, authorities warned that more torrential rain was expected.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its second-highest emergency warning for heavy rain and landslides over vast swathes of the country’s southwest and said “risks are rising” nationwide.

The heavy rain has caused rivers to burst their banks and sweep away bridges, while landslides have destroyed roads and buried houses, complicating access for rescuers battling to save lives.

At least 52 deaths have been confirmed in the rains that began on Saturday across the worst-hit island of Kyushu, local officials said. But with around a dozen people still missing, there were fears the toll would rise further.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga warned that rain was forecast to continue over the next two days.

“Even a small amount of rainfall could cause a disaster. I would like people to be on full alert against landslides and floods,” he said.

In the hardest-hit region of Kumamoto, on the southwest tip of Japan, disaster management official Yutaro Hamasaki said: “We are racing against time.” “We have not set any deadline or time to end the operation, but we really need to speed up our search as time is running out. We won’t give up til the end,” Hamasaki said.

Abe said he would double the number of troops deployed in rescue and relief operations to 20,000, as rescuers try to reach people trapped in homes and schools.

In one school in Omuta city, dozens of children and their teachers spent a desperate night on the upper floor after the ground level flooded.

“Shoe cupboards on the group floor were swept away and shoes were floating around,” an 11-year-old girl told a local newspaper after rescuers arrived.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2020