Image copyright EPA Image caption Roads in the city of Saga were flooded due to the heavy rain

Three people are reported to have died as heavy rains pound south-western Japan

Authorities have asked almost one million people to evacuate, warning "unprecedented" levels of rain fall could cause the flooding of rivers, trigger landslides and submerge houses.

"It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives," the weather agency said.

Japan's southern island of Kyushu has seen weeks of heavy winds and rain.

Authorities there had initially issued a level five warning - the highest - and advised more than 800,000 people to leave their homes.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption In Takeo, Saga prefecture, roads, houses and cars were flooded

Two people are reported to have been drowned in their cars while another man was swept away while escaping from his trapped car.

"We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we issued special warnings," Yasushi Kajiwara of the Japan Meteorological Agency had warned.

Later on Wednesday, the flood warning was downgraded but meteorologists said the danger was not over, and torrential rain may hit the same areas later in the day.

Evacuation orders and advisories are not mandatory yet authorities urge people to heed them and seek safety.

The rain affected the prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki.

Earlier this summer, Kyushu had already been hit by heavy rain, leading to evacuation advisories for more than one million people.

Last July about 200 people died in western Japan in the country's worst flooding disaster in decades.

It was the highest death toll caused by rainfall in Japan since 1982. </s> Torrential rains have triggered floods and landslides in southwest Japan, killing at least two people and prompting authorities to order more than 900,000 people to leave their homes, while another million were advised to move to safety, reports said.

The country's weather agency raised the alert to its highest level on Wednesday for parts of the southern island of Kyushu, the third largest of Japan's five main islands.

The emergency warning is issued "if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes".

Officials confirmed two deaths to the AFP news agency, one in western Saga prefecture where a man was found in a car that had been swept away.

A second man died in Fukuoka as he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters.

More than twice the usual rainfall for the whole of August has fallen over parts of Kyushu over the past 48 hours, washing away roads, causing rivers to burst their banks and forcing the suspension of train services.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said a third person in Saga was in a state of "cardiorespiratory arrest".

"There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of rivers, landslides and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of serious damage occurring in the coming hours," Suga added.

Weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said the areas issued special warnings were experiencing "unprecedented levels of heavy rains".

"It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives," he said.

Kajiwara also urged those living in areas currently under evacuation advisories to act quickly. "Please don't wait," he warned.

More than 900,000 people were ordered to evacuate, national broadcaster NHK said, while Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said just over a million others were advised to leave their homes.

The agency said it received multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures.

Evacuation orders and advisories issued by local authorities are not mandatory, although officials urge residents to heed them.

The Ground Self Defense Force - Japan's military - said it had deployed about 100 troops for disaster relief after a request from Saga prefecture. Public transport and businesses were affected.

At least 155 people died in July last year when torrential rains swept across western Japan, including the prefectures of Hiroshima and Okayama, in the worst flood-related disaster in three decades. </s> TWO PEOPLE HAVE been killed following heavy rains in southwest Japan, prompting flood and landslide warnings and orders for 670,000 people to seek safety.

Nearly a million more people were advised to leave their homes after the country’s weather agency raised the alert to its highest level for parts of northern Kyushu.

The emergency warning is issued “if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes”.

Officials confirmed the two deaths, one of which occurred in the western Saga prefecture, where a man was found in a car that had been swept away.

A second man died in Fukuoka as he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said that a third person, also in Saga, was in a state of “cardiorespiratory arrest” – a term usually employed by Japanese officials to indicate a person’s death before it has been officially confirmed by a doctor.

“There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of rivers, landslides, and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of serious damage occurring in the coming hours,” Suga added.

The fire and disaster management agency said it had already received multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki.

“We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we issued special warnings,” a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency told reporters.

“It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives,” weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said.

Television footage showed rivers swollen by the rain and parked cars sitting in muddy brown water nearly up to the vehicles’ roofs.

Small landslides have already been reported.

Japanese authorities regularly urge people to take evacuation orders seriously, particularly after heavy rains last summer in the west of the country killed more than 200 people.

Many of the deaths were blamed on the fact that evacuation orders were issued too late and some people failed to follow them.

Entire neighbourhoods were buried beneath landslides or submerged in floodwaters during the disasters. </s> Tokyo, July 8 (IANS) The death toll has risen to 81 after record torrential rains pummelled wide swathes of Japan since Thursday, triggering landslides and flooding, the media reported on Sunday.

According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, 78 people have been confirmed dead, eight people sustained serious injuries and at least 57 people are unaccounted for, reports Xinhua news agency.

Of the 78 people confirmed dead, 35 were in Hiroshima prefecture which was hit hardest by the heavy rain and landslides, 20 in Ehime prefecture, while people were also reported dead in the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kyoto, Okayama, Gifu, Kochi, Shiga, Hyogo, and Yamaguchi in western and southwestern Japan, said NHK.

Some 54,000 members of the police, fire departments, Self-Defence Forces and the Japan Coast Guard have been involved in search efforts for the people trapped or wounded in landslides and flooding triggered by the heavy rain.

By Sunday evening, 2.5 million people in 15 prefectures were still under evacuation orders.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the record rain had caused land disasters such as landslides at 201 locations in 28 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said an active seasonal rain front had been causing torrential rain in most eastern and western regions of Japan since Thursday.

The agency has warned that Japan’s Kinki region, which includes Kyoto, Hyogo and Osaka prefectures, could be particularly hard-hit by the downpour, escalating the risk of floods, landslides, lightning and tornadoes.

Rivers from Hokkaido to Kyushu have been reported as running above flood warning levels and the weather agency has warned of further landslides possibly being triggered by the record-levels of rainfall.

Transportation services have been severely disrupted since Thursday, with Shinkansen bullet train services partially suspended in most parts of western Japan and major arterial highways partially closed.

Manufacturing was also hit hard by the heavy downpour and flooding, as major carmakers such as Mazda Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Motors Corp and manufacturer such as Panasonic Corp suspending operations at some plants in western Japan. </s> (Shingo Nishizume/Kyodo News via AP). Buildings are partially submerged by floodwaters caused by heavy rains in Kure, south western Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwestern Japan.

(Kyodo News via AP). A rescue helicopter hovers over damaged buildings after a landslide caused by heavy rains in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwest...

(Kyodo News via AP). Residential buildings are damaged by a landslide caused by heavy rains in Sakacho, Hiroshima prefecture, south western Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and flooding continued to batter southwestern Japan.

(Koki Sengoku/Kyodo News via AP). Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members use a boat to evacuate residentd from a flooded area caused by heavy rains in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and ...

(Takumi Sato/Kyodo News via AP). Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members use a boat to evacuate residents from a flooded area caused by heavy rains in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 7, 2018. Torrents of rainfall and f...

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) - Searches continued Sunday night for victims of heavy rainfall that hammered southern Japan for the third straight day, as the government put the death toll at 48, with 28 others presumed dead.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the whereabouts of 92 other people were unknown, mostly in the southern area of Hiroshima prefecture. More than 100 reports of casualties had been received, such as cars being swept away, he said. Some 40 helicopters were out on rescue missions.

"Rescue efforts are a battle with time," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters. "The rescue teams are doing their utmost."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said three hours of rainfall in one area in Kochi prefecture reached an accumulated 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), the highest since such records started in 1976.

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected by the rainfall, flooding and landslides. Authorities warned that landslides could strike even after rain subsides as the calamity shaped up to be potentially the worst in decades.

In Hiroshima prefecture, water streamed through a residential area, strewn with fallen telephone poles, uprooted trees and mud. Some homes were smashed.

A woman who was reported as missing after getting trapped in her car was found but was pronounced dead, Kyodo news service reported. In another area in Hiroshima, 12 people went missing when a residential area got sucked into a landslide, and one body was later found.

Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku, issued landslide warnings almost over the entire island. Public broadcaster NHK TV showed overturned cars on roads covered with mud. A convenience store worker, who had fled to a nearby rooftop, said water had reached as high as his head.

The Japanese government set up an emergency office, designed for crises such as major earthquakes. Military paddle boats were also being used to take people to dry land.

Okayama prefecture said in a statement that four people had died, eight others were missing and 11 were injured, at least one of them seriously. Seven homes were destroyed, dozens more were damaged, while more than 570 were flooded.

Kyodo reported several deaths in a landslide in Hiroshima and more bodies were retrieved from collapsed housing in the ancient capital of Kyoto, both areas where the rainfall was heavy in the past few days.

Throughout the hard-hit areas, rivers swelled and parked cars sat in pools of water. Japan has sent troops, firefighters, police and other disaster relief. People have also taken to social media to plead for help.

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/haruka%20nuga

Yuri Kageyama, reporting from Tokyo, is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Two people were confirmed dead on Wednesday as heavy rains pounded southwest Japan, prompting flood and landslide warnings, and orders for 670,000 people to seek safety.

Nearly a million more people were advised to leave their homes after the country’s weather agency raised the alert to its highest level for parts of northern Kyushu.

The emergency warning is issued “if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes”.

Officials confirmed two deaths, one in western Saga prefecture where a man was found in a car that had been swept away. A second man died in Fukuoka as he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters.

Government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said a third person, in Saga, was in a state of “cardiorespiratory arrest” — a term usually used by Japanese officials to indicate a person’s death before it is officially confirmed by a doctor.

“There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of rivers, landslides, and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of serious damage occurring in the coming hours,” Suga added.

Evacuation orders and advisories issued by local authorities are not mandatory, although officials urge residents to heed them.

The fire and disaster management agency said it had already received multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures.

“We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we issued special warnings,” a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency told reporters.

“It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives,” weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said.

He also urged those living in areas currently under evacuation advisories to act quickly.

The JMA’s emergency warnings affect areas in Saga, Fukuoka and Nagasaki, where the severe weather has also disrupted transport, forcing the suspension of some train services and some road closures.

Television footage showed rivers swollen by the rain and parked cars sitting in muddy brown water nearly up to the vehicles’ roofs.

Small landslides have already been reported.

At a station in Saga, stranded passengers sat on benches with water around their ankles.

Japanese authorities regularly urge people to take evacuation orders seriously, particularly after disastrous heavy rains last summer in Japan’s west killed more than 200 people.

Many of the deaths were blamed on the fact that evacuation orders were issued too late and some people failed to follow them. Entire neighbourhoods were buried beneath landslides or submerged in floodwaters during the disasters.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android. </s> Two dead as Japan orders 670,000 to flee heavy rains

TOKYO: Two people were confirmed dead on Wednesday as heavy rains pounded southwest Japan, prompting flood and landslide warnings and orders for 670,000 people to seek safety.

Nearly a million more people were advised to leave their homes after the country's weather agency raised the alert to its highest level for parts of northern Kyushu.

The emergency warning is issued "if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes".

Officials confirmed two deaths, one in western Saga prefecture where a man was found in a car that had been swept away. A second man died in Fukuoka as he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said a third person, in Saga, was in a state of "cardiorespiratory arrest" -- a term usually employed by Japanese officials to indicate a person's death before it is officially confirmed by a doctor.

"There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of rivers, landslides, and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of serious damage occurring in the coming hours," Suga added.

Evacuation orders and advisories issued by local authorities are not mandatory, although officials urge residents to heed them.

For those leaving after such warnings, government shelters are available, and some choose to stay with friends and family as well.

The fire and disaster management agency said it had already received multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures.

"We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we issued special warnings," a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency told reporters.

"It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives," weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said.

He also urged those living in areas currently under evacuation advisories to act quickly.

In Saga, a mother wearing a life vest in a rescue boat told public broadcaster NHK she had been saved from the floodwaters.

"I was so scared as I have a little child. I'm worried there could be worse damage because there's an ongoing power outage," she said.

Elsewhere, a man in a shelter in Saga said he was sleeping as the floodwater entered his home.

"When I woke up, water surged to my feet," he told NHK. "I've never seen anything like this. It's important to evacuate early."

The JMA's emergency warnings affect areas in Saga, Fukuoka and Nagasaki, where the severe weather has also disrupted transport, forcing the suspension of some train services and some road closures.

Television footage showed rivers swollen by the rain and parked cars sitting in muddy brown water nearly up to the vehicles' roofs.

Small landslides have already been reported.

At a station in Saga, stranded passengers sat on benches with water around their ankles.

A woman living near an overflowing river said she had been woken by the sound of heavy rain and a warning alarm on her phone indicating a disaster alert.

"This is very rare. Rice fields and other places are flooded. It's like a sea," she told NHK.

Japanese authorities regularly urge people to take evacuation orders seriously, particularly after disastrous heavy rains last summer in Japan's west killed more than 200 people.

Many of the deaths were blamed on the fact that evacuation orders were issued too late and some people failed to follow them. Entire neighbourhoods were buried beneath landslides or submerged in floodwaters during the disasters. </s> At least two people have died and more than a million have been told to flee their homes after record-breaking rains hit southern Japan Wednesday.

Evacuation orders were issued for almost 850,000 on the island of Kyushu after torrential rains hit around 5am Wednesday, with people advised to leave their homes due to 'a significant likelihood of catastrophes'.

The orders were issued after a man in his 50s died near the city of Takeo, in Saga prefecture, after his car was swept away by floodwaters shortly after 5am.

A second man in his 70s was also confirmed dead in the city of Yame, around 40 miles from Takeo, where he died trying to escape a flooded car.

A third person, a woman, was feared dead after authorities said she was found in a state of 'cardiac respiratory arrest' after her car was swept into a water channel.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said: 'There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of rivers, landslides, and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of serious damage occurring in the coming hours.'

Evacuation orders and advisories issued by local authorities are not mandatory, although officials urge residents to heed them.

The fire and disaster management agency said it had already received multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures.

'We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we issued special warnings,' a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency told reporters.

'It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives,' weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said.

He also urged those living in areas currently under evacuation advisories to act quickly.

'Please don't wait,' he said.

The JMA's emergency warnings affect areas in Saga, Fukuoka and Nagasaki, where the severe weather has also disrupted transport, forcing the suspension of some train services and some road closures.

Television footage showed rivers swollen by the rain and parked cars sitting in muddy brown water nearly up to the vehicles' roofs.

Small landslides have already been reported.

At a station in Saga, stranded passengers sat on benches with water around their ankles.

Japanese authorities regularly urge people to take evacuation orders seriously, particularly after disastrous heavy rains last summer in Japan's west killed more than 200 people.

Many of the deaths were blamed on the fact that evacuation orders were issued too late and some people failed to follow them.

Entire neighbourhoods were buried beneath landslides or submerged in floodwaters during the disasters. </s> Two people were confirmed dead on Wednesday as heavy rains pounded southwest Japan, prompting flood and landslide warnings and orders for 870,000 people to seek safety.

More than a million more people were advised to leave their homes after the country's weather agency raised the alert to its highest level for parts of northern Kyushu.

The emergency warning is issued "if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes".

Officials confirmed two deaths, one in western Saga prefecture where a man was found in a car that had been swept away. A second man died in Fukuoka as he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said a third person, in Saga, was in a state of "cardiorespiratory arrest" - a term usually employed by Japanese officials to indicate a person's death before it is officially confirmed by a doctor.

"There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of rivers, landslides, and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of serious damage occurring in the coming hours," Suga added.

Evacuation orders and advisories issued by local authorities are not mandatory, although officials urge residents to heed them.

For those leaving after such warnings, government shelters are available, and some choose to stay with friends and family as well.

The fire and disaster management agency said it had already received multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures.

"We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we issued special warnings," a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency told reporters.

"It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives," weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said.

He also urged those living in areas currently under evacuation advisories to act quickly.

The weather agency issued its highest warning for heavy rain early morning, before downgrading it mid-afternoon.

Still, the agency said heavy rain was likely to continue in western Japan, with high risks of landslides and flooding.
Three people are killed amidst heavy rains in southwestern Japan. Authorities ask almost one million people to evacuate, warning "unprecedented" levels of rainfall could cause the flooding of rivers, trigger landslides, and submerge houses.