Japan: Thousands asked to evacuate homes due to torrential downpour

Kyushu: Hundreds of thousands on the Japanese island of Kyushu have been asked to take shelter in evacuation centres as torrential rainfall threatened to trigger landslides in the area.

Some parts of southern Kyushu have received up to 1,000mm of rain since Friday, and forecasters expect as much as 350mm rainfall in some areas by midday on Thursday, Japan’s national broadcaster said on Wednesday.

The southwestern island of Shikoku, meanwhile, is expected to see up to 250mm of rain by Thursday morning.

Ryota Kurora, a weather forecaster, warned of mudslides, flooding and swollen rivers in the southern region at a news conference on Wednesday morning.

Evacuation orders were issued for almost 600,000 residents of Kagoshima city alone and thousands more in two smaller cities in the same prefecture on Kyushu, the broadcaster said.

Another 310,000 residents of the island were advised to find shelter, Kyodo News Agency reported.