About 1.42 million families in Japan have called for evacuation amid heavy rains in the country’s western and southern prefectures.
According to NHK’s public service broadcaster, the torrential rains that followed the seasonal typhoons continue to negatively affect life in many prefectures.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has called for the evacuation of a total of 1.42 million families in the prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu.
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said 14 rivers had overflowed in the region.
Floods caused by the flooding of the Roccaku River in Saga Prefecture flooded the first floor of Juntendo Hospital. Patients were transferred to the upper floors of the building.
Addressing the people of the region, the Minister of State for Natural Disasters Tanahashi Yasufumi asked to take all precautionary measures against the risks that threaten their lives.
JMA spokesman Yushi Adachi called the rainfall unprecedented and said the situation had caused landslides and floods in some prefectures.
“Don’t wait for an emergency to be declared. Take into account the evacuation warnings and take care of your own safety, “he said.