Weather forecasters say record amounts of rain are expected over the weekend
The death toll from heavy rains in wide areas of western Japan rose to 16 with more than 50 missing on Saturday, as downpours triggered landslides and flooding that smashed homes and swept away cars.
Some 4,800 members of the Self-Defence Forces, police and firefighting service took part in searching for people trapped, wounded or dead. Heavy rainfall had damaged more than 500 homes and injured at least 40 people as of 7:00am, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Evacuation orders or advisories were issued to over 3 million households as flooding and landslides intensified in Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures in particular.
Of the 16 people killed, nine were confirmed dead in Hiroshima, local authorities said, with the rest dying in Osaka, Shiga, Hyogo, Okayama and Ehime prefectures.
In Hiroshima, a woman in her 40s died in a landslide and a man found in a swollen river was confirmed dead, while another man was found dead after he called a fire station to report that a mudslide had struck his home.
The government set up a liaison unit at the crisis management centre of the prime minister’s office to gather information, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.
At a meeting with ministers, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe directed them to “prioritise life saving and send rescue crews without delay”.
Emergency warnings were lifted in Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki and Hiroshima but remain in place in four other prefectures including Okayama.
Since the downpour began on Thursday, the weather agency has forecast record amounts of rain until Sunday, warning of flooding, mudslides and lightning.
Over 90mm of rain fell in an hour in the city of Susaki, Kochi Prefecture and more than 70mm in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
In the 24-hour period until noon on Sunday, 250mm of rain is forecast in the Tokai and southern Kyushu regions, 200mm in the Shikoku and Hokuriku regions, and 150mm in the Kinki and northern Kyushu regions.
