Landslides and floods triggered by torrential rains hit southwestern Japan, causing at least six deaths and forcing more than five million residents to evacuate from their homes.
Japan issued a level 5 warning, the highest possible alert of “securing safety immediately”, across seven prefectures affecting more than 1.8 million people on Saturday, NHK reported.
A level 4 warning, which is an evacuation order, has also been placed across 17 other prefectures, affecting more than four million people.
A 59-year-old woman was killed when a landslide, flushing away two houses, struck Unzen in the Nagasaki prefecture. Her daughter and her husband are still missing.
Another five people were swept away by a landslide in Okaya in the Nagano Prefecture on Sunday morning. Two were rescued and three were confirmed dead.
A meteorological agency official called the rain “unprecedented.”
Photos showed rescue teams towing lifeboats across flooded streets to evacuate the residents. Many people were seen walking through thigh-high muddy water.
Water levels have not ceased to rise in several areas.
The front is predicted to stay over the country until Friday Aug. 20, NHK reported.
Japan’s meteorological agency urged people to remain vigilant against the possibility of more landslides, floods and inundation of low-lying areas.
