Japan urges evacuations after rains leave several missing

Tokyo: Japanese authorities on Monday urged residents to evacuate their homes after heavy rains unleashed floods and landslides in the country s south...

Tokyo: Japanese authorities on Monday urged residents to evacuate their homes after heavy rains unleashed floods and landslides in the country's southwest, leaving several people missing.

Television footage from various communities in Kumamoto prefecture showed houses, stores and vehicles submerged in about a metre (3.3 feet) of water.

Surging rivers swept away vehicles and damaged roads.

More than 40 centimetres (15.9 inches) of rain fell over 12 hours in Kumamoto prefecture's hardest-hit Tamana city, a record for the area according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

By Monday morning, evacuation advisories and warnings were issued to more than three million residents in the southwestern regions, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.