In Japan, the death toll has reached 200 as the country records its highest rainfall in 36 years. Locals now may face disease outbreaks, exacerbated by the intense heat and water shortages. Over 200-thousand households have no water. More than 70-thousand military personnel, police and firefighters are searching for nearly several dozen missing people, but hopes of them being found alive are fading. CGTN's Barnaby Lo has the story.

For days now, Masumi Fujita has done little but worry about his girlfriend. She had been home on Friday night when torrential rains started pouring down Western Japan. He was on his way home, and got to talk to her on the phone, but an hour later, he could no longer reach her.

MASUMI FUJITA SURVIVOR "She's missing because of a series of unfortunate events. Now that I think about it, I could have intervened in one of those events. There's a chance I could have prevented the tragedy."

Masumi's girlfriend could be one of the few still missing from their village in Hiroshima. Three days of heavy downpour had set off landslides in different parts of the prefecture, killing scores. Search and rescue workers have been digging through rubble, looking for bodies, and maybe, just maybe, survivors.

BARNABY LO HIROSHIMA PREFECTURE "So, over 70 people have been confirmed dead here in Hiroshima alone, mostly due to landslides, but there could be more as they're searching for more missing people."

Search teams are taking advantage of sunshine clearing the worst-hit communities of boulders that the rains have sent crashing down homes and debris from whatever's left of those homes.

MASUMI FUJITA SURVIVOR "I walked up from the bottom of the hill towards where my house was, and when I looked up where my house was supposed to be, the only thing I saw was the foundation."

Rain or shine though, search efforts have been relentless. The Japanese government has also earmarked more than 630 million U.S. dollars for reconstruction.

SHINZO ABE JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER "We will put all our efforts into rebuilding people's lives in the disaster-hit areas as soon as possible."

Masumi hopes to be able to rebuild the life he's shared with his girlfriend, so he's holding on to what little hope there is of finding her alive. Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.