Heavy rain pounded parts of Japan's southwestern region Monday, leaving one woman dead and prompting the weather agency to issue its highest level of alert.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of landslides and floods in Fukuoka Prefecture and neighboring Oita, calling on residents to immediately take measures to secure their safety.
The woman was confirmed dead after she was found in a house with her husband in Fukuoka Prefecture. An emergency call was made around 3:40 a.m. Monday that an elderly couple was trapped in a house due to a mudslide, local authorities said.
Due to the heavy rain, bullet train services between Hiroshima and Hakata stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen line as well as Hakata and Kumamoto stations on the Kyushu Shinkansen line were temporarily halted, their operators said.
Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, logged record rainfall for a three-hour period of 167 millimeters as of 6:20 a.m. Monday, according to the agency.
In the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Tuesday, up to 200 mm of rainfall was forecast in the northern Kyushu region, up to 100 mm in the Chugoku region in western Japan and up to 80 mm in the Hokuriku region in central Japan.
As heavy precipitation is expected from western and eastern regions facing the Sea of Japan through Tuesday, the weather agency called for vigilance against landslides and overflowing rivers.
