TOKYO (Reuters) – Torrential rain triggered landslides that killed at least one person and prompted authorities to order tens of thousands of people to leave their homes on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu on Monday.
One woman in her 70s was killed when a landslide hit her house in Fukuoka prefecture, public broadcaster NHK said.
Another three people were missing after a landslide hit two homes in Saga prefecture, NHK said.
The highest-level warning for heavy rain was issued in parts of Fukuoka and Oita prefectures.
Up to an additional 200 mm of rain is expected to fall in northern Kyushu up to early morning on Tuesday, said Satoshi Sugimoto, director of forecast division at the Japan Meteorological Agency.
“The rain is becoming so heavy unlike anything seen before,” the official said.
Shinkansen bullet train’s service was suspended between Hiroshima and Fukuoka’s Hakata stations.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Stephen Coates)
