Japan issues highest risk alerts in Hiroshima due to torrential rains

Floodwater seen in a ditch in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan after heavy rains, in this August 13, 2021 still frame obtained from social media video. TWITTER @KAPPACHAN1115 /via REUTERS

Japan on Friday issued the most serious level 5 risk alerts in the western prefecture of Hiroshima, citing unprecedented rains in the region and imminent risk of floods and other disasters.

Japan Meteorological Agency issued the warning, adding in a statement that the rain front could stay over the country for about a week.

On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of residents of Nagasaki and other parts of Kyushu island in southwest Japan were asked to evacuate to avoid floods and the risk of landslides caused by torrential rain.

A road is damaged by the swollen Suzuhari river caused by a heavy rain in Hiroshima, western Japan August 13, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's office set up a disaster control centre on Friday to handle potential disasters.

"Torrential rains could continue in regions around western Japan," Suga said.

A landslide in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan after heavy rains, in this August 13, 2021 photo obtained from social media. TWITTER @KAPPACHAN1115 /via REUTERS

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

A passerby holding an umbrella walks in the heavy rain in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan August 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Picture taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

Passersby holding umbrellas walk past in front of the gutted atomic-bomb dome as weather authorities issued warning about heavy rain in the western Japan, in Hiroshima, August 13, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

FILE PHOTO: A swollen river caused by a heavy rain is seen in Nagomi Town, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan August 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS