Nearly 700 people were awaiting rescue and at least 12 missing in Japan after torrential rains that saw a river burst its banks and deluge a city north of Tokyo.
Dramatic aerial footage showed whole houses being swept away on Thursday by raging torrents in scenes eerily reminiscent of the devastating tsunami that crushed Japan's northeast coast in 2011.
Television images from Joso, a small city of 65,000, showed desperate residents waving towels as they stood on balconies trying to summon help after the levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area that reports said spanned 32 square kilometres and included 6,500 homes.
Military helicopters plucked some stranded residents from roofs. One man was seen clutching a concrete post as waters swirled around him.
Nearly 700 stranded in Japan after Kinugawa river breaks banks - IBNLive
Dramatic aerial footage showed whole houses being swept away on Thursday by raging torrents in scenes eerily reminiscent of the devastating tsunami that crushed Japan's northeast coast in 2011.
Television images from Joso, a small city of 65,000, showed desperate residents waving towels as they stood on balconies trying to summon help after the levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area that reports said spanned 32 square kilometres and included 6,500 homes.
Military helicopters plucked some stranded residents from roofs. One man was seen clutching a concrete post as waters swirled around him.
Nearly 700 stranded in Japan after Kinugawa river breaks banks - IBNLive
