This archive report was first published on 13 October 2019.
Published on October 13, 2019, by AFP
Japan's military scrambled to rescue people trapped by flooding after powerful Typhoon Hagibis tore through the country, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake.
The storm's heavy rain triggered deadly landslides and caused rivers to burst their banks, forcing Rugby World Cup organisers to cancel the third match of the tournament.
By Sunday morning, the storm had moved back off land, but serious flooding was reported in central Japan's Nagano, where a burst levee sent water from the Chikuma River gushing into residential neighbourhoods, flooding homes up to the second floor.
Japan's military deployed helicopters to rescue people seen standing on balconies waving towels to attract attention.
"Overnight, we issued evacuation orders to 427 households, 1,417 individuals," Yasuhiro Yamaguchi, an emergency official in Nagano city, told AFP.
At the storm's peak, more than seven million people were placed under non-compulsory evacuation orders, with tens of thousands heeding the call and moving into government shelters.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level rain disaster warning, saying "unprecedented" downpours were expected.
