Disasters & Accidents

Highest alert activated in Japan after torrential rains

Tokyo, July 10 (EFE).- Authorities Saturday put several prefectures on the highest alert after the Met department warned of torrential rains in the southwest of Japan.

The highest disaster alert level was activated in the Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima prefectures on the island of Kyushu, where some 245,000 people live, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Those who have not been able to evacuate to a public shelter were advised to take refuge in the safest place possible.

The authorities have urged the residents in the affected prefectures to stay indoors and move to higher floors of their buildings, according to NHK.

The emergency warning came a week after heavy monsoon rains caused a mudslide leaving nine dead and 20 missing in the Atami city, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Tokyo.

There have been no reports of injuries or missing persons in Kyushu.

But a dozen families were cut off due to the damage caused to the roads in Kagoshima prefecture, which is expected to see the heaviest downpours,

The city of Satsumasendai in Kagoshima received the maximum rainfall of a record 96.5 millimeters (3.8 inches) an hour, the highest since record-keeping began, the JMA said. EFE

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