40 Dead in Japan Floods, as More Areas Warned of Heavy Rain

Areas are inundated in muddy waters that gushed out from the Kuma River in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 4, 2020. (AP)
Areas are inundated in muddy waters that gushed out from the Kuma River in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 4, 2020. (AP)
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40 Dead in Japan Floods, as More Areas Warned of Heavy Rain

Areas are inundated in muddy waters that gushed out from the Kuma River in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 4, 2020. (AP)
Areas are inundated in muddy waters that gushed out from the Kuma River in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 4, 2020. (AP)

The death toll from three days of heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan rose to 40 on Monday, including 14 who drowned at a riverside nursing home, as rescuers searched for 10 missing people and rain threatened wider areas of the main island of Kyushu, officials said.

Army troops and other rescuers worked their way through mud and debris along the flooded Kuma River, where many houses and buildings were submerged nearly to their roofs.

The Meteorological Agency issued the highest weather warning for three prefectures in northern Kyushu after heavy rain hit the island's southern region over the weekend.

More than half a million people were advised to evacuate across Kyushu, including riverside towns in Kumamoto city where 40 bodies were recovered. The evacuation was not mandatory and many people are believed to have opted to stay at home because of concerns over catching the coronavirus, even though officials said shelters were adequately equipped with partitions and other safety measures.

The dead included 14 of the 65 elderly residents of the nursing home next to the Kuma River, which is known as the “raging river” because it is joined by another river just upstream and is prone to flooding.

The river rose abruptly and its embankment gave in, causing floodwaters to gush into the nursing home, where most of the residents were bedridden or wheelchair users.

A caregiver on night duty told the Asahi newspaper that he saw the river rising in the early hours of Saturday and he and three colleagues woke everyone up and to prepare them for evacuation. But then he heard a window break and saw water pouring in and quickly rising to his knees, he said.

He heard voices calling for help and grabbed two people to lift them above the water, which continued to rise until his arms grew numb and he was no longer able to hold them and they died, he said.

“I’m so sorry. I really wanted to help them, but I couldn’t. I had no strength left,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Shunji Ogawa, a village assemblyman who regularly volunteers at the nursing home, said he joined the caregivers in helping move the residents but the water rose suddenly like a tsunami, the newspaper reported.



Greenlanders Are Waking up to a Message from Trump Welcoming Them to the United States 

President Donald Trump talks about Greenland as he addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listen. (AP)
President Donald Trump talks about Greenland as he addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listen. (AP)
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Greenlanders Are Waking up to a Message from Trump Welcoming Them to the United States 

President Donald Trump talks about Greenland as he addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listen. (AP)
President Donald Trump talks about Greenland as he addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listen. (AP)

Greenlanders awoke Wednesday to a message from US President Donald Trump, who said his administration supported the Arctic island’s right of self-determination and also welcomed its people into the United States.

Many in Greenland, a vast and mineral-rich island that is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, are worried and offended by Trump’s threats to seize control of homeland, because he says the US needs it “for national security.”

“I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland,” Trump told Congress during an address Tuesday. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”

But Trump also added that his administration was “working with everybody involved to try to get it," referring to his wishes to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a longtime US ally.

“We need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said.

Asked about Trump's comments, Denmark's foreign minister said Wednesday he did not think Greenlanders wanted to separate from Denmark in order to instead become “an integrated part of America.”

Lars Løkke Rasmussen sought to strike an optimistic tone, saying he believed that Trump's reference to respecting Greenlanders' right to self-determination was “the most important part of that speech.”

“I’m very optimistic about what will be a Greenlandic decision about this. They want to loosen their ties to Denmark, we’re working on that, to have a more equal relationship,” the minister said during a trip to Finland.

Løkke added that it was important that next week’s parliamentary elections are free and fair “without any kind of international intervention.”

Greenlanders will head to the polls Tuesday. Trump's recent comments about taking over the island have ignited unprecedented interest in full independence from Denmark, which has become a key issue during campaign season.

Appealing to Greenlanders directly, Trump said: “We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before."