Nearly a quarter of a million residents were ordered to evacuate the southern Japanese island of Kyushu Saturday after torrential rain killed at least 20 people. The orders were issued in four prefectures as the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of more mudslides and flooding, broadcaster NHK reported. About 180,000 residents were told to leave Fukuoka prefecture. Three people were buried under mudslides early Saturday. Two of them were rescued while an 83-year-old woman is still missing, the Kyodo News reported, citing local police. Oita prefecture governor Katsusada Hirose called for the dispatch of military disaster-response units. The agency warned that rainfall of up to 80 millimetres per hour could hit parts of northern Kyushu later in the day. In Aso city, where 18 people died and four were missing, more than 730 millimetres of rain had fallen since Wednesday, surpassing the average monthly rainfall of 570 millimetres, according to a report of DPA.
