'Heaviest rain ever' claims lives of at least two in southwestern Japan

Torrential rain in southwest Japan claimed the lives of at least two people, on Monday, with fears that the death toll could rise as several residents were asked to evacuate their houses.

A week of steady rain in the country has prompted the rivers to burst their banks and waterlogged earth to break into deadly landslides, including one that claimed the life of a 77-year-old woman.

As per the news agency AFP, a landslide in Kurume city, Fukuoka region, engulfed 10 people. Nine out of those survived, but a local man, aged around 70, lost his life in the incident, said the city's disaster management official.

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According to the Yomiuri Shimbun and national broadcaster NHK, separately a male body was also found in Kurume, next to rice fields near a flooded river.

The Yomiuri said that in Hirokawa town in Fukuoka, the body of an elderly male was found inside a flooded vehicle trapped in an irrigation channel.

According to the officials, another woman was feared dead after she was last seen sticking to a car in rising floodwaters in the neighbouring Oita region.

By Monday afternoon, rain in the region slowed or stopped. But earlier in the day, more than 420,000 people were put under a top-level evacuation warning stating: "Your life is in danger, you need to take action immediately."

Around two million more in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Saga, Yamaguchi and Oita were under a lower-level warning, urging them to evacuate if they were in hazardous areas.

Japan has five levels of evacuation orders, but people cannot be forced to leave their homes.

"Rain and wind gusts were very, very strong. There was lightning. It was so horrible," Takashi Onizuka, 62, of Tachiarai town near Kurume in Fukuoka told AFP.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) released a statement saying that the heavy downpours risked flooding and landslides across Fukuoka and Oita.

"This is the heaviest rain ever experienced" by the region, Satoshi Sugimoto of JMA's forecast division told reporters.

"The situation is such that lives are in danger and safety must be secured," he added.

Japan PM Fumio Kishida's office releases statement

The prime minister's office said a task force had been set up in order to coordinate a response to the heavy rains.

"We have received reports that several rivers have flooded... and that landslides have occurred in various parts" of the country, top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

"The government is doing its best to get a complete picture of the damage and taking measures under a policy of 'people's lives first'," he added.

He warned torrential rain was forecast across much of the country on Tuesday.

"If you feel your life is in danger, even just a little, don't hesitate to act," he said.

According to the officials, in Fukuoka's Asakura City, the rain was thought to have reached a peak point but there were still fears about flooding.

"Water levels in rivers are rising so we're vigilant against the possibility of overflowing," local official Takaaki Harano told AFP.

'Climate change is intensifying risk of heavy rain in Japan', say scientists

According to scientists, climate change is heightening the risk of heavy rain in Japan and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

The weather agency said it had already been raining for more than a week in the region.

"The area is very wet due to intermittent rainfall for over a week," Yoshiyuki Toyoguchi, land ministry official in charge of rivers, told reporters.

"Even with a little rain, river levels tend to rise quickly, which will increase the risk of flooding."

(With inputs from agencies)

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