Almost 800,000 people across three Japanese cities have been ordered to evacuate amid warnings of landslides and floods brought by heavy rain.

Kagoshima city, Kirishima and Aira, in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu island, urged their residents to move to safety immediately.

One elderly woman in Kagoshima city died after a mudslide hit her home.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told residents of the cities to "take steps to protect their lives".

About 310,000 residents in the neighbouring Miyazaki prefecture have also been advised to evacuate.

Weather officials say 1,000mm (39in) of rain has fallen on Kyushu island since Friday.

Last July about 200 people died in western Japan in the country's worst flooding disaster in decades.

It was the highest death toll caused by rainfall in Japan since 1982. </s> Japan floods: Six dead, 22 missing as rain continues over northern Kyushu

Severe flooding in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu has claimed six lives, with rescuers still working to get food and medical supplies to more than 1,000 people left stranded.

More than 12,000 personnel have been conscripted to help with the relief effort, digging through piles of splintered wood and mud in the wake of freak rains that forced nearly 80,000 from their homes.

This number was down from more than 400,000 at the peak of the rains, with tens of thousands more advised to leave their homes.

The Government said six people had died and 22 remained unaccounted for as rain continued to fall over northern Kyushu on Friday, amid warnings of further landslides.

Parts of Fukuoka, on the south-western island of Kyushu, were hit by 593 millimetres of rain in the 48 hours to 9:00am on Friday (local time), well over the rainfall of a usual July, the meteorological agency said.

"At first, it wasn't raining that much," said Sumie Umeyo, a resident of Asakura in south-central Fukuoka.

"But they spoke of record-breaking rain and it started raining heavily, then they began closing the roads.

About 500 people were rescued yesterday when rivers across the region broke their banks and landslides cut off roads.

They said 1,100 people were still isolated on Friday and that Japan's military was transporting food and medical supplies wherever they could.

Heavy rain continued to fall, shifting to the northern part of Kyushu, although emergency rain warnings were lifted.

Large boulders and uprooted trees littered the landscape as thousands of soldiers, police officers and firefighters waded through debris and mud to reach several hundred people cut off by landslides.

Fukuoka and neighbouring Oita, the hardest hit by the rain, are both largely rural prefectures but rivers were also rising in the city of Kitakyushu, which has a population of some 950,000, and issued evacuation orders for several districts.

The rain was caused by a low pressure area over the Pacific that fed warm, moist air into Japan's seasonal rainy front. </s> TOKYO (Sputnik) — Thousands of soldiers and police have been mobilized on the Japanese island of Kyushu after heavy rains caused rivers to burst their banks washing homes and people away, the top government speaker said Thursday.

“Since this morning, 7,500 personnel from the Self-Defense Forces, firefighters and police have been deployed to the scene. Over 40 helicopters are on standby,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at an emergency press briefing. </s> The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Japan's south has risen to 20, local media reported today, as rescue teams continued their search for survivors.

Swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- have been left devastated after overflowing rivers and torrential downpours swept away roads, houses and schools this week.

Thousands of people have been evacuated to makeshift shelters in school gyms and public buildings, but many remain stranded, with emergency services battling through thick mud and rain to try to reach them.

Some 250 people were still cut off by today, the Kyodo news agency said. Collapsed bridges and waterlogged ground on steep hillsides were hampering rescue efforts, according to media.

A total of 20 people have died while more than 20 remain unaccounted for in the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures, Kyodo reported.

The government was doing its "utmost" to recover those missing or stranded, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga earlier said in a rare weekend press conference.

Five people were in critical condition, Suga said, with the government still trying to ascertain if their injuries were a result of the severe weather.

Television footage showed rescue helicopters held up at a makeshift heliport -- unable to fly because of the downpours, while people prayed for the safety of their family members.

More than 50 centimetres of rain deluged parts of Kyushu in 12 hours on Wednesday, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to warn of possible significant damage.

Rains have continued intermittently since, with up to 22 centimetres recorded in Fukuoka in the past 72-hour period.

Japan's weather agency today warned of continued heavy rains and mudslides in northern Kyushu. </s> Japan floods: Seven dead, many missing as rain continues over northern Kyushu

Updated

Severe flooding in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu has claimed seven lives, with rescuers still working to get food and medical supplies to more than 1,000 people left stranded.

More than 12,000 personnel have been conscripted to help with the relief effort, digging through piles of splintered wood and mud in the wake of freak rains that forced nearly 80,000 from their homes.

This number was down from more than 400,000 at the peak of the rains, with tens of thousands more advised to leave their homes.

The Government said seven people had died and more than 20 remained unaccounted for as rain continued to fall over northern Kyushu on Friday, amid warnings of further landslides.

Parts of Fukuoka, on the south-western island of Kyushu, were hit by 593 millimetres of rain in the 48 hours to 9:00am on Friday (local time), well over the rainfall of a usual July, the meteorological agency said.

"At first, it wasn't raining that much," said Sumie Umeyo, a resident of Asakura in south-central Fukuoka.

"But they spoke of record-breaking rain and it started raining heavily, then they began closing the roads.

"We looked outside and the roads were like rivers."

About 500 people were rescued yesterday when rivers across the region broke their banks and landslides cut off roads.

They said 1,100 people were still isolated on Friday and that Japan's military was transporting food and medical supplies wherever they could.

Heavy rain continued to fall, shifting to the northern part of Kyushu, although emergency rain warnings were lifted.

Large boulders and uprooted trees littered the landscape as thousands of soldiers, police officers and firefighters waded through debris and mud to reach several hundred people cut off by landslides.

Fukuoka and neighbouring Oita, the hardest hit by the rain, are both largely rural prefectures but rivers were also rising in the city of Kitakyushu, which has a population of some 950,000, and issued evacuation orders for several districts.

The rain was caused by a low pressure area over the Pacific that fed warm, moist air into Japan's seasonal rainy front.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: floods, disasters-and-accidents, emergency-incidents, weather, japan, asia

First posted </s> TOKYO. – At least two people have been killed and about 20 others are missing in huge floods that are surging through southern Japan, with hundreds of thousands of people ordered or urged to flee.

Unprecedented torrential rain has caused rivers to burst their banks, sweeping away roads and houses, and destroying schools.

Thousands of soldiers and others were scrambling Thursday to reach people cut off by torrents of swirling water or threatened by landslides, and had rescued 250 people, the government said.

“We are in an extremely serious situation,” Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said, warning of the danger of collapsing hillsides and adding “many people are still missing”.

More than 50 centimetres of rain deluged parts of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, over 12 hours on Wednesday, the meteorological agency said.

Downpours will likely continue through today, the agency said as the region grapples with the aftermath of a typhoon that raked the country this week.

Authorities lifted “special” heavy rain warnings for the hardest hit prefectures of Fukuoka and Oita, although other warnings, such as for rain, landslides and flooding, remained in place.

One man was found dead in the city of Asakura in Fukuoka prefecture, while another died in a landslide in Hita in Oita prefecture, officials said.

Japan is deploying 7 800 police, rescue personnel and troops in affected areas of Kyushu, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, telling reporters that “there are about 20 people who are unaccounted for”.

Those included a child reportedly carried off by a fast-flowing river and a couple who had not been seen since their house was swept away. – AFP. </s> TOKYO (AP) - The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Firefighters inspect the collapsed houses in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Saturday, July 8, 2017. The southern island of Kyushu suffered heavy rain after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week, dumping large amounts of rain that damaged homes, roads and rice fields. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads. </s> TOKYO (AP) - Rescue workers have found four more bodies in southern Japan, bringing the death toll from heavy rain to six with about 20 more missing.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu Friday after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier this week, dumping torrential rain that has wrecked homes, roads and rice terraces.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says 12,000 troops and rescuers are focusing on remote villages where hundreds are stranded. Rescue operations have been slowed down by mud and floodwaters and more flooding is forecast for the country's east.

Firefighters walk on the damaged road following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were still in effect for some areas on the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier this week, bringing disturbing rain clouds to follow. Heavy rain moved to northern Kyushu, threatening flooding there.(Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)

Houses are collapsed and half-buried in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Houses are collapsed and half-buried in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

In this July 6, 2017 photo, local residents walk on a damaged road to a safer place following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan. Troops worked Thursday to rescue hundreds of people stranded by flooding in southern Japan. (Takuto Kaneko/Kyodo News via AP) </s> The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture.

Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads.
Severe flooding on the Japanese island of Kyushu has caused seven deaths with twenty people unaccounted for.