Heavy rain lashes Kyushu; weather agency warns of disasters

TOKYO — Heavy rain lashed Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu on Wednesday, with the country's weather agency warning of a high risk of disaster in parts of Kagoshima Prefecture due to a so-called linear rainband.

The Japan Meteorological Agency called on residents of western and eastern Japan to remain alert for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and rising river levels that could occur on Thursday as a front and low-pressure system is expected to move northward to the southern coast of the main island of Honshu.

The front will extend from Kyushu and the seas off southern coasts of other regions to waters near the Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific, while a low-pressure system over the East China Sea along the front will move toward northern Kyushu through Thursday, the agency said. Warm, moist air is expected to flow toward the front and the low-pressure system.

Extremely heavy rain exceeding 70 millimeters per hour was recorded in parts of Satsumasendai in Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday morning.

The 24-hour rainfall expected through noon on Thursday is forecast to reach 300 mm in Shikoku Island, 250 mm in southern Kyushu, and 200 mm in the Tokai, Kinki and northern Kyushu regions.

The agency said linear rainbands -- zones of heavy rainclouds that form in succession over the same area -- could form in the Kyushu prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Oita and Kumamoto from early Thursday morning, raising the likelihood of rain-caused disasters.

Meanwhile, two typhoons may threaten parts of Japan in the coming days.

Typhoon Mekkhala moved northward to Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan on Wednesday. It is expected to approach the Nansei island chain Thursday through Saturday.

The agency is urging residents in Okinawa to be on alert for high waves accompanied by swells from Thursday and to exercise extreme caution against gale-force winds strong enough to overturn moving trucks.

Predicted rainfall for the 24-hour period ending at 6 a.m. Thursday is up to 60 mm in some areas, and 150 mm for the following 24-hour period.

The second typhoon, Higos, now near the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, is forecast to move in a northerly direction, possibly approaching the Japanese archipelago.

© KYODO