At least one dead, three missing in Japan landslides

At least one person was killed while three were missing after torrential rain triggered landslides over southwest Japan.

According to national broadcaster NHK, a woman in her 70s was killed after a landslide slammed her house in Fukuoka prefecture, while three people were missing after a landslide hit two residences in Saga prefecture.

Authorities encouraged tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes due to the risk of further landslides and floods.

At a news briefing, Satoshi Sugimoto, director of prediction division at the Japan Meteorological Agency, said, “The rain is becoming so heavy unlike anything seen before.”

On Kyushu island, portions of the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures received the strongest heavy rain warning.

At least eight rivers had flooded their banks and dozens of mudslides had occurred, the land ministry said, in a region hit by rain that killed dozens of people in July 2017.

Authorities urged tens of thousands of residents to move out of areas in danger of more landslides and flooding, media reported.

Some parts of Fukuoka had received more than 500 mm of rain since Friday, more than usually falls in the whole of July, media reported, and another 200 mm is expected up to early Tuesday, Sugimoto said.

As of early Monday, 6,740 houses were without power and 80 were without water, said to government spokeswoman Hirokazu Matsuno.

The Shinkansen bullet train service between Hiroshima and Fukuoka’s Hakata stations was interrupted but restored operation by mid-morning.

Japan is the most recent country to be hammered by exceptionally heavy rain in several regions of the world in recent days, raising new concerns about the speed of climate change.