<p class="title">Torrents of rainfall and flooding battered a widespread area in southwestern Japan on Saturday, leaving at least 15 people dead and more than 50 missing, according to Japanese media.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As the death toll continued to climb from the rainfall, which began earlier this week, Okayama prefecture said a man caught in a landslide was pronounced dead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kyodo news service reported another death in a landslide in Hiroshima, which set off a fire, while the body of a child was found in a flooded area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the missing were five people who got buried when housing collapsed, also in Hiroshima prefecture. In Ehime Prefecture, a woman was found dead on the second floor of a home hit by a landslide, Kyodo said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Yamaguchi prefecture, another area hit by the heavy rain, alerted people to heed evacuation warnings and act quickly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kyoto prefecture said it was working to control flooding at several dams. Some 250 people had to flee their homes and the prefecture identified one fatality as a 52-year old woman.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Roads were blocked in some areas and warnings issued on landslides.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Military water trucks were rushing to areas where water systems were no longer working, Okayama prefecture said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Although Japan is among the most modernized of Asian nations, rural areas are hit hard by the rainy season each year, often resulting in casualties and heavy damage.</p>
<p class="title">Torrents of rainfall and flooding battered a widespread area in southwestern Japan on Saturday, leaving at least 15 people dead and more than 50 missing, according to Japanese media.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As the death toll continued to climb from the rainfall, which began earlier this week, Okayama prefecture said a man caught in a landslide was pronounced dead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kyodo news service reported another death in a landslide in Hiroshima, which set off a fire, while the body of a child was found in a flooded area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the missing were five people who got buried when housing collapsed, also in Hiroshima prefecture. In Ehime Prefecture, a woman was found dead on the second floor of a home hit by a landslide, Kyodo said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Yamaguchi prefecture, another area hit by the heavy rain, alerted people to heed evacuation warnings and act quickly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kyoto prefecture said it was working to control flooding at several dams. Some 250 people had to flee their homes and the prefecture identified one fatality as a 52-year old woman.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Roads were blocked in some areas and warnings issued on landslides.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Military water trucks were rushing to areas where water systems were no longer working, Okayama prefecture said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Although Japan is among the most modernized of Asian nations, rural areas are hit hard by the rainy season each year, often resulting in casualties and heavy damage.</p>