TOKYO, Aug 29 (AFP) Aug 29, 2008

One woman was found dead and an entire city of nearly 400,000 people
urged to evacuate Friday as torrential rain hit central Japan, officials
said.

Heavy rain since late Thursday has wreaked havoc, flooding houses and
roads, triggering landslides and destroying bridges.

"The body of a woman who looks to be in her 70s was found underwater at
an inundated house" in the central city of Okazaki, a local police
official said.

Reports said the woman was Suzue Kuroyanagi, whose husband had called
rescuers, saying water had come up to his chest and his wife was swept away.

Okazaki was the worst hit city, with 146 millimetres (nearly six inches)
of rain per hour recorded early Friday.

The city has advised all of its 376,000 residents to evacuate
temporarily. Some 50 people have fled their homes, according to Keiji
Yamamoto, a disaster prevention official in the city.

Footage of the city from a helicopter showed inundated rice fields and
roads with cars half-submerged.

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