A week of torrential rain pounded southwestern and central Japan, triggering severe flooding and landslides that have killed at least 68 people in the region. Kumamoto prefecture in Japan's southern island of Kyushu has been hardest hit, and over the weekend residents braced for more extreme weather. On Saturday some areas observed more than 80 millimeters of rainfall per hour and 1,000 mm over three consecutive days. Strong winds, lightning, and tornadoes were also added to the weather warning. The Ministry of Land reported 282 mudslide disasters across 27 prefectures with the largest number, 52, in Kumamoto prefecture.
Eastern and western Japan are on high alert for heavy 24-hour downpours with a risk that rivers in Iwate and Aomori could overflow. New mudslide warnings have also been issued for Kyushu as past rain loosens the ground and damaged river levees inundate low-lying areas.
Six more people have died in floods and mudslides in northeastern India's Assam state, officials said Tuesday, taking the death toll to 77 from more than two weeks of heavy rains that caused one of Asia's largest rivers to overflow.
The Brahmaputra River continued to wreak havoc, displacing more than 2 million people, the officials said. Vast tracts were still underwater with 26 of the state's 33 districts badly affected.
Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, officials said Thursday, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade.
The monsoon -- which usually falls from June to September -- is crucial to the economy of the Indian sub-continent, but also causes widespread death and destruction across the region each year.
"This is going to be the worst flood in a decade," Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre chief Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan told AFP.
The heavy rains have swollen two main Himalayan river systems -- the Brahmaputra and the Ganges -- that flow through India and Bangladesh.
A flash flood in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province left at least 15 people dead and an unknown number missing, an official said Tuesday.
"Fifteen are reported dead and we are still looking for more casualties since access to many locations is still blocked by the mud," North Luwu district official Indah Putri Indriani said.
She said the flooding began Monday evening and was triggered by heavy rains that caused three rivers to overflow.
Mud and other materials carried by the floodwaters covered roads and thousands of houses, she said.
Further flooding has been reported in northern Turkey following the deadly flash floods in Artvin Province on 12 July.
At least 2 people lost their lives in flooding and landslides in Çayeli district of Rize Province in north eastern Turkey on 13 July.
The town of Çayeli, along with several surrounding towns and villages in the district have been affected. AFAD said houses were destroyed in Madenli, and the villages of Köprübaşı and Sarısu. Two people from Köprübaşı village and 3 in Madenli town were sent to the hospital with injuries. Rescue teams have been facing problems reaching the remote villages.
More than 140 people are either dead or missing due to severe floods in several Chinese regions that have affected nearly 38 million people, authorities in Beijing said on Sunday.
"As of July 12, 37.9 million people have been affected as a result of floods in 27 regions, including the provinces of Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan. 141 people are either dead or missing, and 2.25 million people have been evacuated," a statement by the country's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters read.
Earlier in the day, the headquarters raised the country's flood response level from level III to level II, the second highest level. Many rivers, including the Yangtze, have swelled following weeks of torrential rain.
Mexico - Heavy rain was recorded accompanied by hail south of the metropolitan area of Pachuca and conurbation area of the municipality of Zempoala, Hidaldo, the consequences of tropical storm Cristina.
The death toll from the floods in Nepal rose to 23, while 35 others are reported to be missing as relentless monsoon rains hammered the mountain nation.
Spokesman for Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority Janardan Gautam said that two people went missing on Saturday in the districts of Sindhupalchok and Jajarkot after being swept away by the swollen rivers.
On Thursday, Nepal's Meteorological Office had warned of heavy rainfall over the weekend, it issued warnings that dozens of rivers and rivulets could inundate cities and towns across the country.
The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.
- Philip K. Dick
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