A man died and three people were slightly injured Saturday in western Japan due to continued heavy rain, while some 10,000 people were warned to evacuate their homes in Kumamoto Prefecture. Torrential rain, caused by a powerful seasonal front, fell mainly on the Pacific side of the Kyushu and Shikoku areas, KYODO quoted the Japan Meteorological Agency as saying. A 76-year-old man was found drowned in a river after having gone out to see to his rice paddies in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, police said. Another man, 60, had been unaccounted for after leaving his home in a truck in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Saturday morning, but was later found safe and sound, the police said. The three injured were hurt when part of a road collapsed while they were in two cars in Aso in the same prefecture, they said. In the town of Misato, also in Kumamoto Prefecture, firefighters and Ground Self-Defense Force members worked to evacuate some 180 residents who had been isolated since Friday after roads and bridges leading to the town collapsed due to the rain. Bad weather had hampered rescue efforts until Saturday morning. In Kumamoto alone, nearly 10,000 people from more than 3,000 households were advised to evacuate and move to designated shelters. The active seasonal rain front has been hovering over Kyushu and Shikoku with warm and moist air flowing into the weather front bringing about the heavy rains, the meteorological agency said. Some areas, especially in northern Kyushu, have had rainfall of over 500 millimeters over the past 72 hours, and the agency has pointed to an extremely high possibility of floods. Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, recorded rainfall of 77 mm in an hour, the highest level in the city since records began. In Saga, Kochi Prefecture, rainfall of 65 mm per hour was recorded, a new high for the month of July there. In other areas, Mitate, Miyazaki Prefecture, recorded 56 mm of rainfall and Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, 47 mm. The agency forecast 200 mm of rainfall in northern and southern Kyushu and 150 mm on the Pacific side of Shikoku during the 24 hours up to 6 a.m. Sunday.
