Photo/Illutration Volunteers clean up a flooded residence in Wajima on Sept. 24, which was built for evacuees of the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake. (Takeshi Komiya)

WAJIMA, Ishikawa Prefecture--Search efforts resumed at around 7 a.m. on Sept. 24 here in the city's Futegawamachi area for those missing in the record-breaking torrential rain that engulfed the Noto Peninsula over the weekend. 

Landslides were triggered in the deluge and houses have been swept away by a river that overflowed.

A team of 520 personnel from the fire department, police and Self-Defense Forces are searching in the area around the flooded Tsukadagawa river, according to local fire authorities.

As of 3 p.m. on Sept. 23, a total of seven deaths have been confirmed, six in Wajima and one in neighboring Suzu, according to the prefecture.

Two people are officially missing, while five others are unaccounted for, possibly due to the disaster.

All public elementary and junior high schools in Wajima will be closed due to flooding and water outages.

Volunteers are assisting in the mud and debris cleanup efforts that have begun at temporary housing facilities. These shelters were originally built for evacuees from the devastating earthquake that rocked the area on Jan. 1. 

Forty communities in Wajima, 14 in Suzu and two in the town of Noto remain isolated due to damaged roads from the heavy rain. 

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