Heavy rains trigger havoc in Japan’s Kumamoto, over 360,000 evacuated

Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan’s Kumamoto have been urged to evacuate their homes due to the risk of flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains, according to Kyodo News Agency.

A bridge built above a small river running through Yamato collapsed due to the extremely heavy rain in Japan’s Southwestern Kyushu region on Monday, reported local authorities,

For safety purposes, evacuation orders have been released for almost 3,60,000 residents in the city of Kumamoto.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of torrential rain and thunder which has been continuing across the region on Tuesday noon, reported Kyodo News Agency.

Kyodo News is a news agency based in Minato, Tokyo.

Moreover, the Meteorological Agency has also asked the residents to stay alert for mudslides and flooding.

Kumamoto Prefecture saw the development of linear rainbands known to bring torrential downpours, as per Koyodo News Agency.

The towns of Yamato and Mashiki in the prefecture registered hourly precipitation of 82 and 80 millimetres, respectively on Monday morning, both July records for the areas.

However, according to local authorities, there were no reports of casualties in the bridge collapse.

The violent rain in southwestern Japan left one person dead and two others missing, according to local officials and the weather agency, Kyodo News reported on Saturday.

As a result of the seasonal rain, the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued warnings for mudslides, floods in low-lying areas, and river overflow in regions from western to eastern Japan.

According to West Japan Railway Co., Sanyo Shinkansen services between Hiroshima and Hakata stations have been temporarily discontinued, reported Kyodo News on Saturday.