Torrential rain from tropical storm Lan causes extensive damage in western Japan

TOKYO, Aug 17 (NHK) - Tropical storm Lan dumped torrential rain on the Chugoku and Kansai regions, western Japan. More details are emerging about the extent of the damage, including Tottori City, where authorities issued a heavy rain emergency warning.

Saji Town, in the south of Tottori, has been hard hit by a series of road and bridge collapses. A national road that connects the town and the city center caved in.

1,597 residents remain stranded in areas near the Saji River, which runs through the town. Some communities do not have access to running water. People were seen pumping up water from mountain springs.

A female resident said, "My family of six is in desperate need of water to flush the toilet."

Ambulances could not reach some areas due to landslides. At Saji Town, a woman in her 80s suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest on Tuesday night at a community hall where she was seeking shelter.

Tottori City and other officials say it took more than three hours for an ambulance team to reach her due to the impact of the landslides. The woman was confirmed dead at hospital. City officials are trying to verify whether the natural disaster was a factor for her death.

Tottori is a major pear farming area. At a farm in Yurihama Town, the storm ripped about 600 pears off their branches. The fruit was ready to be harvested for shipments.

Pear farmer Mitsuda Tatsuhiko said, "I came to the farm this morning only to find pears everywhere on the ground. There's nothing I can do when it comes to a typhoon."

The storm caused damage to other areas as well. In Fukuchiyama city, Kyoto Prefecture, a section of a road caved in.

At a temple in the city, more than 30 gravestones were knocked down early morning. The chief priest says it is heart-wrenching.

The impact can also be seen off the coast. Driftwood floated down a river to the port in Kami, Hyogo Prefecture, and is making it difficult for fishermen to take their boats out to sea.