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Harrowing Photos Document Devastation After Rains Hit Japan

Harrowing Photos Document Devastation After Rains Hit Japan
Alexandra Ma
By 

Editorial Fellow, The Huffington Post

A series of rare torrential rains burst the banks of two rivers in eastern Japan on Thursday and Friday, causing flooding and landslides that forced 100,000 people to evacuate, and left three dead and 23 missing.

Among the three people who died was a 63-year-old woman whose house was crushed by a landslide in Kanuma city.

Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/Getty Images

More than 3,500 people in the city of Joso spent Thursday night in makeshift evacuation centers in schools, community centers and the city hall, where they were given hot food and sleeping bags.

"The government will work as one to prioritize the safety of the people and do our best to prevent any further disaster," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Thursday.

The Japanese government has sent 5,800 police, military and emergency forces to the regions surrounding the Kinugawa river in Joso, Ibaraki prefecture, and the Shibuigawa river in Miyagi prefecture.

The harrowing photos below document how the floods have devastated cities and homes, and how authorities are stepping in to help:

Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
A vehicle is submerged in a flooded paddy field in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
A collapsed house lies in a flooded paddy field in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
Police officers search for missing people in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images
Japan's Self-Defense Force evacuate elderly people in a boat in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images
A woman walks towards a collapsed house in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images
A man walks through floodwaters in Osaki, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
Rescue workers transport evacuees in a rubber boat through floodwaters at Oyama in Tochigi prefecture, near the Ibaraki prefecture, Japan on Sept. 10, 2015.
Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images
Members of Japan's Self-Defense Force hand out relief goods in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Residents walk on a flooded street in Joso, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
A woman speaks on her mobile phone at an evacuation center in Tsukubamirai, Ibaraki prefecture, on Sept. 11, 2015.
Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images
People rest and talk on the phone at an evacuation shelter in Tsukubamirai, Ibaraki prefecture on Sept. 11, 2015.

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