Thousands of rescuers deployed as Japan floods kill three

Disastrous floods have left three dead and dozens missing in eastern Japan, authorities said on Sept.11 as thousands of rescuers were deployed to evacuated trapped residents from an inundated city north of Tokyo. 

The heaviest rain in decades continued to pound the country, threatening to worsen conditions in the wake of Typhoon Etau, which smashed through Japan earlier this week bringing strong winds and travel chaos.
 
At least 25 people including a pair of eight-year-old children are missing in disaster-struck Joso city, public broadcaster NHK said, quoting officials in the area which lies about 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside Tokyo.
 
The community of 65,000 residents was hammered on Sept.10 when a levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area that reportedly spans 32 square kilometres (12 square miles) and includes 6,500 homes.
 
Dramatic aerial footage showed whole houses being swept away by raging torrents in scenes eerily reminiscent of the devastating tsunami that crushed Japan's northeast coast four years ago.
 
Desperate Joso residents waved towels as they stood on balconies trying to summon help, while military dinghies ferried dozens of people to safety, and helicopters plucked others from rooftops.
 
"That was the first time I've seen the levee burst at the Kinugawa river," an elderly man told AFP near a shelter in Joso.
 
Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said some 5,800 troops, police and firefighters were dispatched early on Sept.11 to flooded areas where rescuers had worked through the night.
 
"The government is making the utmost effort, mobilising police, firefighters and the Self-Defense Forces, to rescue people as quickly as possible," Suga said in...