進入英語學習論壇下載音頻 去聽寫專區一展身手

Rescue teams carried out a painstaking search on Monday for the missing after a typhoon pounded western Japan leaving at least 31 people dead and more than 50 unaccounted for, local authorities said.

Torrential rain brought by powerful Typhoon Talas, which made landfall on Saturday and was one of the deadliest in years, caused rivers to swell and triggered floods and landslides that swept away buildings, homes and roads.

Police and firefighters resumed a search for the missing early on Monday, warning that the number of victims was set to rise as the continued threat of landslides and damaged access routes hampered relief efforts.

In the deadliest typhoon since an October 2004 storm killed nearly 100 people, floods triggered by Typhoon Talas gave rise to scenes eerily reminiscent of the aftermath of the March 11 tsunami that hit northeastern Japan.

In Nachikatsuura town, a railway bridge was swept into a river, while TV footage showed splintered trees, crushed houses and cars tossed onto walls and buildings by the raging floodwaters that inundated entire neighborhoods.

By Sunday, Talas had been downgraded to a tropical storm after it moved over Japan and into the Sea of Japan, the Meteorological Agency said, but risks of further landslides posed a threat to rescue and recovery efforts.

The Talas weather system, moving as slow as 10 kph, dumped 1.8 meters of rain on a village in Nara Prefecture for five days through Sunday, more than Tokyo's annual average rainfall, said the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Wakayama Prefecture was the hardest hit region, where 21 people were killed and 35 were missing. More than 200 rescue workers continued the search on the ground on Monday.

"We are struggling to get a hold on the current situation ... electricity is out and destroyed roads are preventing our vehicles from going into affected areas," said an official at the fire department in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture.

The daughter of Nachikatsuura Mayor Shinichi Teramoto was killed as the official ran disaster relief operations on Sunday and his wife was also missing. His house was destroyed by a torrent of water.

"I saw the body of my daughter. The best I could do was to be by her side for half an hour," he said.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

?Christine Mallari is an intern at China Daily. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in a nearby suburb before moving for college. After recently graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in English, Journalism and Mass Communications, she moved to Beijing to work with China Daily. Though she has been working in journalism since high school, this is her first time doing so abroad.