Japan typhoon Hagibis death toll rises to 66 as rescuers continue search for missing

The death toll in the worst typhoon to hit Japan for decades has climbed to 66 as rescuers slogged through mud and debris in an increasingly grim search for the missing, and as thousands of homes remained without power or water.

Typhoon Hagibis slammed into the nation on Saturday night but even before it arrived it had brought hours of heavy rains causing landslides and filling rivers until they burst their banks.

Since then, more than 110,000 rescuers, including 31,000 troops, have been working in a massive rescue operation to search for people trapped by the disaster.

Fifteen people remain missing nearly three days after Typhoon Hagibis, NHK national broadcaster said.

More than 200 people were injured in the storm, whose name means “speed” in the Philippine language Tagalog.

About 138,000 households were without water while 24,000 lacked electricity, well down on the hundreds of thousands initially left without power but cause for concern in northern areas, where temperatures are falling.

The highest toll was in Fukushima prefecture north of Tokyo, where levees burst in at least 14 places along the Abukuma River, which meanders through a number of cities in the largely agricultural prefecture.

At least 25 people died in Fukushima, including a mother and her child who were caught in floodwaters.

The woman’s son, who was also with her in the flood, remains missing.

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