Heavy rain resulting from a stationary rain front fell mainly in the northern Kyushu region early Wednesday morning.
The Chikugo River and the Oita River overflowed in Oita Prefecture, and there was extensive flooding in the cities of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Hita, Oita Prefecture. About 1,000 houses in Kyushu have been inundated, according to information compiled by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The center of the rain has shifted east, and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued an emergency warning for heavy rain in Gifu and Nagano prefectures on Wednesday morning.
Downpours have continued since Saturday, leaving 56 people dead, two in cardiopulmonary arrest and 13 missing, mainly in Kumamoto Prefecture.
In Yufu, Oita Prefecture, prefectural police and firefighters were searching for a four-seater vehicle that was believed to have been washed away by a river. There was also a report of a missing person in the city. In Nagasaki City, the body of a woman in her 70s or 80s was found in the Urakami River on Wednesday morning.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry announced that the Oita River overflowed in Yufu at 12:40 a.m. Wednesday, and the Chikugo River again broke its banks in Hita at 1 a.m. on the same day. As of 6 a.m., a total of 90 landslides had been confirmed in seven prefectures in Kyushu.
According to the Yomiuri's tally as of noon on Wednesday, 596 houses in Fukuoka Prefecture, 308 in Kagoshima Prefecture and 64 in Oita Prefecture had been flooded. In five prefectures including Fukuoka and Oita, about 780,000 people had been urged to evacuate.
The heavy rain also affected city centers. In Kurume, 533 houses and 94 roads were inundated on Wednesday morning. In Hita, many houses and roads were flooded.
Disrupted roads and other factors have left 132 people in 55 households isolated in eight locations. The entire Nakatsue district in Hita is said to have been isolated.
The meteorological agency recorded 862 millimeters of rainfall in Hita and 688 millimeters in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, between noon on Sunday to 5 a.m. on Wednesday. In Taketa, Oita Prefecture, radar analysis noted 110 millimeters of rainfall in the hour up to 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, and the agency issued information about a record-breaking deluge in a short period.
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