Floods in Japan force evacuation of quarter of a million

The death toll from landslides and floods in Japan has risen to at least 20. Around 260,000 people living in the area have been ordered to evacuate, and 140,000 more were advised to leave their homes on the southwestern island of Kyushu.


Most of those killed lost their lives in landslides in and around the town of Aso, situated on the foot of a volcano in Kumamoto prefecture, one of the island’s four prefectures affected by the disaster. Many of the casualties were elderly people unable to leave their houses as water levels rose rapidly. 

Two hundred and sixty thousand people in the north of the island have now been ordered to leave their houses. They were instructed to go to designated shelters such as schools and other public facilities. Some 140,000 others were also advised to leave their houses to avoid jeopardizing their lives. 


Read more / see more photos and video of devastation: RT

Posted in: Calamities, Deluge, Evacuation, Floods, Japan, Landslide, News