Heavy rain in southern Japan leaves up to six dead, three missing
Heavy rains hit Japan
Japan is the latest country to be hit by torrential rain that has wreaked havoc in various parts of the world in recent days.
Eight rivers burst their banks and dozens of slopes saturated from continuous rain since late last month turned into mudslides.
Livelihood affected
A Toyota Motor Corp subsidiary Toyota Motor Kyushu said it would suspend night-shift operations on Monday at three factories in Fukuoka due to the rain. Tire manufacturer Bridgestone Corp suspended operations at four factories in Fukuoka and Saga prefectures from Monday morning.
Japan Post said that more than 200 post offices were closed. Mobile carriers KDDI Corp and Nippon Telegraph and Telecom's NTT Docomo reported unstable connections in some areas.
Services halted due to extreme weather conditions
The Shinkansen bullet train service briefly suspended operations between Hiroshima and Fukuoka's Hakata stations. Nearly 33 railway lines and 12 expressways were blocked. Around 35 flights were cancelled keeping in mind the extreme weather conditions.
Without basic amenities
Around 1,820 households were without power while 60 homes had no water, as of late afternoon on Monday, July 10.
Evacuating residents
Authorities have been working day in and day out to help those who are stranded in Fukuoka due to the heavy rains. Police have been evacuating residents from the affected area.
Six dead, three missing
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated during a press conference that, "Municipalities are still making checks on casualties, but we were informed of three deaths, another three deaths potentially related to the disaster, three missing and two lightly injured."
Stay alert!
The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded the special warnings for heavy rains that it issued on Monday, July 10 for northern parts of the island to lower-level warnings. However, authorities have urged residents to stay alert for further landslides.
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