44 minutes ago
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Published: July 14, 2012
TOKYO - Roughly a quarter of a million residents were ordered to evacuate their homes on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Saturday, after record torrential rain left at least 21 people dead and 8 missing.
The orders were issued in four prefectures - Saga, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Oita - as the rainfall triggered mudslides and overflowing rivers inundated some residential areas and farmlands.
In Fukuoka prefecture alone, about 190,000 residents were told to leave their homes. Three people were buried under mudslides early Saturday. Two of them were rescued while an 83-year-old woman remained missing, Kyodo News reported, citing local police.
The levels of rainfall that have pounded parts of Kyushu since Wednesday were unprecedented, Japan Meteorological Agency officials said.
In Aso city, where 18 people died and four were missing, more than 800 millimetres of rain had fallen since Wednesday, well over the July average of 570 millimetres.
Oita prefecture governor Katsusada Hirose called for the dispatch of military disaster-response units.
The agency said that rainfall of up to 80 millimetres per hour could hit parts of northern Kyushu through Sunday morning. They warned of more mudslides and flooding it the region. dpa tk tlo Author: Takehiko Kambayashi
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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