Japan's Self-Defense Force soldiers search for missing people at an area devastated by heavy rains at Ichinomiya-machi town in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture,July 15, 2012.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Hundreds of thousands of people on the island of Kyushu began to clean up Monday, as the death toll from flooding and landslides reached at least 27.
Sunday, Japanese troops airlifted supplies to more than 3,000 people who were stranded in Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan.
More than 90 millimeters of rain an hour fell in Kyoto prefecture in western Japan, flooding hundreds of homes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said Sunday that the worst is over, but predicted more heavy rain in some areas through Monday.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
Record Rainfall Floods Japan
1/9Japan Self-Defense Force soldiers search for missing people at an area devastated by heavy rains in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, July 16, 2012. Japanese weather officials are warning of more torrential rain in northern and western Japan.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
2/9A destroyed car lies near collapsed houses after a landslide caused by heavy rains in Minamiaso town, Kumamoto prefecture.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
3/9Soldiers search for missing people at an area hit by landslides caused by heavy rains in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture. Evacuation orders were issued to 40,000 people in the Kyushu area.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
4/9An elderly woman is carried on a stretcher to airlift to a hospital in Yame, southwest Japan, July 16, 2012.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
5/9An aerial view shows flooded residential area after a bank of the Yabegawa river collapsed caused by heavy rains in Yanagawa, Fukuoka prefecture.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
6/9An aerial view shows a flooded residential area in Kyoto.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
7/9Residential streets are submerged after a river overflowed its banks in Kumamoto, Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's southern island of Kyushu.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
8/9People wade through a flooded street caused by heavy rains in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
Show moreShow less
9/9Japan's Self-Defense Force soldiers search for missing people at an area devastated by heavy rains at Ichinomiya-machi town in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture.
Residents of southwestern Japan are returning home after four days of record rainfall that caused massive flooding.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
