Japan evacuated about 100,000 people from their homes on Thursday, after rare torrential rains unleashed floods that left at least two people missing and stranded many more when rivers surged over their banks.
A further 800,000 people across eastern Japan have been advised to evacuate after officials issued pre dawn warnings of unusually harsh rainfall to 5 million people.
Television broadcast pictures of helicopters plucking individuals from rooftops, while one elderly couple sat on a roof clutching a pair of dogs.
Some areas received double the usual September rainfall within 48 hours after tropical storm Etau swept across the central part of Japan’s main island of Honshu.
