The site of a landslide in the town of Soeda, Fukuoka Prefecture, where a woman was caught in the mud. (Photo courtesy of the Soeda Municipal Government)

       FUKUOKA -- A 75-year-old woman was rescued on Aug. 15 after being trapped in mud and sand for some 18 hours when a landslide flowed into her home in the town of Soeda, Fukuoka Prefecture.

       The landslide caused by record-breaking rainfall from a stagnant front damaged at least one two-story wooden house in Soeda where the woman and her husband were living. A bamboo grove behind the house collapsed on early Aug. 15, and mud and sand flowed into the residence and completely blocked the road in front of it.

       A doctor rushed to the scene and administered intravenous drips. The woman's husband was unharmed. According to the Fukuoka Prefectural Police's Tagawa Police Station, the woman, rescued around 7:30 p.m., remained conscious after the ordeal and her life was not in danger.

       A Mainichi Shimbun helicopter view of the area showed deep erosion to the foundations of the JR Hitahikosan Line running nearby, and the tracks looked as if they were floating in midair for several dozen meters. The line was damaged by the torrential rain in northern Kyushu in July 2017, and part of the section including Soeda is out of service.

       On the morning of Aug. 15, a day after the heavy rains, helicopter images of Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki prefectures, which were under an emergency heavy rain warning, showed widespread inundation damage from "inland flooding," where rivers and irrigation canals overflowed.

       Rain is expected to continue to fall heavily in Kyushu and other areas on and after Aug. 16, and the Japan Meteorological Agency is calling for caution.

       (Japanese original by Hiroshi Higa, Kyushu News Department)

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