Japan’s heavy rains triggered landslides, two people may be dead, 20 people are missing-NHK Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters)-Japanese public broadcaster NHK said that at least two people died on Saturday due to a landslide in Atami, a city in central Japan, and about 20 people are still missing.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga convened an emergency task force to deal with the crisis, and he asked people in the affected areas to be vigilant.

Suga Yoshihide said in a televised speech: “There may be more heavy rainfall, we need to be extra careful.”

The floods remind people of natural disasters-including earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis-that plague Japan, and the capital Tokyo will start hosting the Summer Olympics this month.

According to NHK, two people were found in a cardiac arrest in Atami, 90 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo, and were taken to the hospital.

It played scenes of collapsed and half-submerged houses as water washed the city with mud and debris. Social media pictures show partially submerged cars and rescuers wading in waist-high water with small life rafts.

According to the Japan Broadcasting Association, the Japanese military has dispatched emergency rescuers to the city, and about 80 people have been evacuated.

The company quoted Tokyo Electric Power Company as saying that about 2,830 households in the area are facing power outages.