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Torrential rain triggered landslides and flooding in southwestern Japan on Monday, killing at least three people and leaving several others missing.
TVQ via Reuters
A woman looks out Monday over an area covered in water from a swollen river in the town of Tachiarai, Fukuoka prefecture, after heavy rains hit wide areas of Kyushu island.
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a special heavy rain warning to eight municipalities in Fukuoka, Saga and Oita prefectures of the northern Kyushu island. Authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents to leave their homes.
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Debris from flooding clogs a road in Tanushimarumachi in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture. (JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images)
Water from the swollen Chikugo river swallows roads and buildings in the town of Tachiarai, Fukuoka prefecture, on Monday, in an image from AFPTV video footage.
Harumi Ozawa/AFP/Getty Images
Harumi Ozawa/AFP/Getty Images
A chief forecaster at the Japan Meteorological Agency, Satoshi Sugimoto, called it the “heaviest rain we have ever experienced,” according to the Japan Times. The agency issued a level 5 alert — the highest level of warning — for areas at risk of landslides, where lives are in imminent danger, Sugimoto said.
Harumi Ozawa/AFP/Getty Images
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Twitter @zXshun via Reuters
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced flooding alerts for six rivers in the region, and the Japan Water Agency released water from dams in Fukuoka province as an emergency measure, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
Twitter @zXshun via Reuters
Cars are stranded on a road flooded by heavy rain in Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture, on Monday
Kyodo News/Reuters
Kyodo News/Reuters
Rescuers work near a house destroyed by a landslide in Karatsu, Saga prefecture, on Monday.
Kyodo News
Kyodo News
Saga and Fukuoka prefectures have asked for Ground Self-Defense Force dispatch personnel to rescue those who remain missing in the rubble and debris.
Kyodo News
People walk through hip-deep water along a flooded road as more rain falls in Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture.
Kyodo News/Reuters
Kyodo News/Reuters
A collapsed building is surrounded by debris from flooding in Tanushimarumachi in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture. (JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images)
Str/AFP/Getty Images
Str/AFP/Getty Images
Authorities advised people living in at-risk areas to move to the second floor and to stay away from mountains, cliffs and streams.
Str/AFP/Getty Images
Residents maneuver through a flooded street in the city of Kureme, Fukuoka prefecture.
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Japan’s Kyushu island is often hit with heavy rain during the annual rainy season from May to July. On July 3, torrential rain pounded Kumamoto, a prefecture south of Fukuoka in Kyushu, with evacuation orders issued for some 360,000 residents. In 2018, at least 58 people were killed after record-breaking rainfall hit the same region.
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Floodwaters race downhill next to a house damaged by a landslide in Karatsu, Saga prefecture, southern Japan.
Kyodo News
Kyodo News
Mud from a landslide damaged houses in Karatsu, Saga prefecture, southern Japan.
Kyodo News
Kyodo News
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Video production and text by Naomi Schanen, photo editing by Morgan Coates