July 4 07:30 pm JST 23 Comments
TOKYO
Torrential rain in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto triggered massive flooding Saturday, leaving 15 people feared dead and nine others missing, the prefectural government said, as the weather agency warned of downpours to continue.
Around 203,200 residents were asked to take shelter in Kumamoto Prefecture and neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture, with 109 shelters opened in 17 municipalities in Kumamoto housing at least 871 evacuees.
Of the 15 found showing no vital signs, 14 were at a nursing home in Kuma in Kumamoto, near a river that overflowed.
The Japan Meteorological Agency raised heavy rain warnings in many parts of the prefectures to the highest level shortly before 5 a.m., the first time it has done so for the two prefectures.
The agency said heavy rains are forecast to continue through Sunday, warning of overflowing rivers, mudslides and flooding in low-lying areas.
Amakusa in Kumamoto had seen record precipitation of 98 millimeters per hour, according to the agency. The Kuma River overflowed and caused extensive flooding, and some 20 meters of a dike of the river in Hitoyoshi collapsed, according to a local bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Kumamoto prefectural government requested the dispatch of Ground Self-Defense Force personnel for disaster relief work.
Residents in Hitoyoshi, Yatsushiro and some other villages in Kumamoto have been stranded. Police, firefighters and GSDF members have geared up in rescue efforts but are finding it difficult to reach some mountainous areas.
In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told an emergency meeting of Cabinet ministers that about 10,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel would be mobilized for relief efforts, ordering the immediate shipment of relief supplies to affected residents.
Shinkansen bullet train services in the prefectures have been suspended, Kyushu Railway Co. said.
Haruka Yamada, a resident of the town of Ashikita in Kumamoto, said nearby houses were already flooded when she woke up to the sound of rain around 4 a.m.
"I saw large trees and parts of houses being washed away and heard them crashing into something. The air is filled with the smell of leaking gas and sewage," the 32-year-old said.
A rain front that brought the downpour to Kumamoto and Kagoshima as well as Miyazaki Prefecture bordering them is expected to straddle western and eastern Japan areas through Sunday, the weather agency said, warning of heavy rain particularly in parts of western Japan.
© KYODO
