Kyushu braces for floods, slides as hourly downpours top 100 mm

Aug 15, 2017 | News On Japan

Aug 15, 2017 (Japan Times) - Torrential rain exceeding 100 mm per hour hit Kyushu early Tuesday morning, prompting the Meteorological Agency to issue warnings for landslides and floods, NHK reported Tuesday.

According to the agency, heavy rain was reported in the city of Yatsushiro and the town of Hikawa in Kumamoto Prefecture. The town of Kosa saw 167.5 mm of rain in the six hours up to 5 a.m. Tuesday, equivalent to nearly a month of rain for August in an average year.

The Yatsushiro Municipal Government said at least eight houses were flooded, according to the report.

Evacuation advisories were issued early Tuesday in several municipalities in the prefecture, including the cities of Kumamoto, Uki and Uto and the town of Misato, the report said.

The agency said the heavy rain is likely to continue until Wednesday morning, predicting 120 mm in southern Kyushu and the Chugoku and Kinki regions and 100 mm in northern Kyushu, the report said.

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