HEAVY RAIN HITS JAPAN, KILLS 18 IN KYUSHU|豪雨侵襲災情慘 九州18人死亡廿餘失蹤

Days of heavy rain have caused flooding and landslides in Japan's Kyushu island. At least 18 have died, and more than 20 remain missing. Torrential downpours also pounded various parts of China, and in Beijing, a thunderstorm brought record-high frequency lightning, lighting up the night sky. Record-breaking heavy rain had been hitting Japan's Kyushu since July 5th. The most devastated Asakura City suffered from floods and landslides. Farmland is now mud land. ==HIROYOSHI HAYASHI, Asakura farmer== I'm a local farmer and we grow grapes and strawberries here. As you can see the strawberries are in that state. The damage is so serious, I'm not sure what to do now. Local authorities in southwestern Japan continued search and rescue operations. According to official record, Asakura City and nearby Toho Village have 15 people dead, 20 people missing. Another three were found dead in Hita City. Several bodies were found along the coastal line of Ariake Sea, the bodies may possibly drifted from the disaster area Chikugogawa. Days of heavy rain were caused by warm humid air above sea level in western Kyushu. The upward air stream later became a precipitation zone of 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide. Weather forecaster warned of more storm downpours in northern Kyushu over the weekend, local residents are advised to get prepared. Heavy rain was also happening in southern China, including Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu Provinces. Weather bureau issued a storm blue alert for July 9th. On July 8th, Beijing again had another squall line weather, some area even had hail. Flooding calamities were found in Guizhou, Shaanxi, and Liaoning Provinces. TRANSLATED BY: ANTHONY LIN 連日豪雨分別侵襲中國和日本九州北部，造成慘重的災情。其中九州的死亡人數已增加到至少18人，還有二十多人失蹤，自衛隊及警消持續搜救。 破紀錄豪雨從五號起強襲日本九州，受災最嚴重的朝倉市，道路損毀，許多房屋被土石流淹沒一半，汽車被大水沖得東倒西歪，斜插在混亂的漂流木堆當中，農地變成了泥灘。 ==朝倉市農民 林先生== 我家是種葡萄跟草莓的 草莓田現在是這種狀態 損害實在太大了 我也不知道該怎麼辦 自衛隊跟警消九號仍然持續搜救行動。官方統計顯示，朝倉市跟一旁的東峰村，已經有15人罹難，還有20人下落不明。東南邊的日田日也有三人死亡，另外當局還在西南方的有明海沿岸發現多具遺體，有可能是從災區筑後川被沖入海中。 最終死傷人數可能還會增加。 這波強降雨是因為九州西部海面溫暖潮濕空氣，遭遇地面山地阻擋形成上升氣流雲雨帶，由上空的風繼續吹往內陸，就形成一條一百公里長，三十公里寬的線狀降水帶，雨勢非常強勁，氣象預報分析，這個週末九州北部都還會持續降下暴雨，當局呼籲民眾嚴加戒備。 另外中國南方豪雨不斷，廣西，湖南，湖北，安徽，江蘇等省份，九號起又要出現一波強對流天氣，當局發布了暴雨藍色預警，警告部分地區還會有雷暴大風。八號晚間北京再次出現強對流的「颮線」天氣，雷電交加有如萬砲齊發，夜空都被點亮，部分地區出現還冰雹。另外貴州，陝西，遼寧多省也持續傳出豪雨洪水災情。 記者施慧中報導