Japan warned of more heavy rain on the southwestern island of Kyushu on Tuesday as the death toll in flood-hit areas reached at least 50, with more than a dozen people reported missing.

“The rain front is expected to remain until the ninth (of July), and rain is expected over a wide front stretching from western to eastern Japan,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular press briefing, urging people to take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety.

Japan on Monday issued a flood warning to more than half a million people living in three prefectures on Kyushu, including Nagasaki, Saga and Fukuoka. Police, Self Defense Force and Coast Guard units are conducting search and rescue effort, Suga said.

Images aired by public broadcaster NHK, showed swollen rivers, destroyed homes and roads covered in landslides. 

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued special heavy rain warnings for some areas in Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki prefectures, all located in the northern part of the southwestern Japan region, on Monday afternoon. 
  

The Japan Meteorological Agency agency also called for maximum vigilance against floods, landslides and inundation in lowland areas that could happen due to heavy rains from a seasonal rain front.

The warnings covered four municipalities in Fukuoka, including the cities of Omuta and Yame, and seven in Nagasaki, including the cities of Nagasaki and Isahaya.

In Saga, the number of municipalities subject to the special warning initially stood at six, but was then cut to five.Relevant local authorities issued evacuation orders or advisories.

“We want residents in the areas subject to the special warnings to take action immediately to ensure their safety,” Yoshihisa Nakamoto, chief of the agency’s Forecast Division, said at a press conference.

Special heavy wain warnings issued Saturday for Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures in Kyushu. The special alerts in the two prefectures were downgraded to ordinary heavy rain warnings later.

Rainfall of about 110 millimeters per hour was recorded on Monday afternoon in areas near the city of Omura and the town of Higashisonogi in Nagasaki, and areas near the cities of Kashima and Ureshino in Saga.

Landslide warnings were issued for all prefectures in Kyushu except Miyazaki, some areas in the western prefectures of Kochi, Hiroshima and Nara, and parts of the central prefectures of Gifu, Shizuoka and Nagano.

The rain front is expected to remain over western Japan regions to the Tohoku northeastern region until  Wednesday, reinforcing the need for vigilance against heavy rains and strong winds.

Forecasts for Tuesday expect rainfall of up to 300 millimeters in northern Kyushu, up to 250 millimeters in the Tokai central region, up to 200 millimeters in southern Kyushu and the Chugoku western region, up to 180 millimeters in the Kinki western region, the Hokuriku central region and the Kanto-Koshin eastern to central region, up to 150 millimeters in the Shikoku western region and up to 100 millimeters in Tohoku.

Reuters/JIJI Press