Helicopters, boats rescue people stranded in Japan

TOKYO » Japan woke Sunday morning to flooded rivers and burst levees, as emergency workers used helicopters and boats to rescue stranded residents from their homes in the wake of Typhoon Hagibis, the largest storm to hit the country in decades.

Rain began falling Saturday and continued through Sunday morning, testing dams, pulling down hillsides, destroying roads and bridges, and driving rivers over their banks.

Anticipating extensive damage, authorities urged nearly 6 million people to evacuate.

Rescue services jumped into action early in the morning, with helicopters plucking stranded people from balconies and roofs. At least 35 people were killed, with 15 people reported missing and at least 100 injured, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Deaths were expected to mount as swollen rivers rushed through flooded neighborhoods.

More than 370,000 households were without power, and at least 15,000 homes were without water, Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, told reporters, adding that the country was taking every measure to recover.

At least two deaths and several landslides occurred before the typhoon made landfall, and a 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Chiba, east of Tokyo, on Saturday evening just before the storm hit.

At least 142 rivers flooded, NHK said, after recordbreaking rains. In Nagano prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, a levee burst on the Chikuma River, flooding a wide area of Nagano City.

Levees on 21 rivers across the flood zone collapsed, according to NHK and information provided by local governments.

At least 27,000 rescue workers raced to evacuate people from the flood zones, where water reached up to buildings’ second stories and strong currents swept through the streets. NHK showed images of an effort to rescue hundreds of people stranded at an elder-care center in Saitama, a suburban area north of Tokyo. Television announcers urged people trapped in their homes to put up pieces of fabric as a signal to rescuers.

In Fukushima prefecture, where a huge earthquake and tsunami caused the Daiichi nuclear power plant to melt down in 2011, a burst levee flooded the banks of the Abukuma River after heavy rains.

Separately, Tokyo Electric Power said it was inspecting the nuclear plant for damage from the heavy rains.

YOHEI KANASASHI — KYODO NEWS VIA AP Cars are stranded on a road as the city of Nagano, central Japan, is submerged in muddy waters after an embankment of the Chikuma River broke on Sunday. Rescue efforts continued for people stranded in flooded areas.

KYODO NEWS VIA AP An evacuee with a dog is rescued by Self-Defense Forces members in Motomiya, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.