Flooding, mudslides strand hundreds in Japan

Flooding and mudslides have stranded hundreds of people in scenic hot springs and hiking areas in central Japan in the disaster that already has killed nearly 60 people in a southern region.

Parts of Nagano and Gifu, including areas known for scenic mountain trails and hot springs, have been flooded by massive downpours.

More than 300 people, including hotel employees and visitors, were trapped in Kamikochi, as floods and mudslides hit a main road connecting the town to Matsumoto, another tourist destination in Nagano.

All of the stranded people were safe, officials said.

In neighboring Gifu, hundreds were also isolated in the hot spring towns of Gero and Ontake.

As of Thursday morning, the death toll from the heavy rains, which started over the weekend, had risen to 59. Most of them were from hardest-hit Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's third largest island of Kyushu.

Kumamoto on Thursday started accepting dozens of volunteers to help residents clean their homes. Volunteers must come from within the prefecture and temperature checks and masks were required due to coronavirus concerns.

Japan is at high risk of heavy rain in early summer when wet and warm air from the East China Sea flows into a seasonal rain front above the country.

In July 2018, more than 200 people, about half of them in Hiroshima, died from heavy rain and flooding in southwestern Japan.

Meteorological Agency officials said the seasonal rain front has stayed above Japan longer than usual, prompting heavy rain to persist.