Japan is evacuating tens of thousands of residents on the southern island of Kyushu amidst torrential flooding.
Fifteen people are already feared dead and nine missing, Reuters reported, citing local media. Authorities have already told 92,200 households in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures to leave amid concerns over rising floods and landslides.
“Heavy rains are likely to continue until Sunday, and people in the area should be on high alert,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, saying he could activate up to 10,000 soldiers to join the rescue operations.
Several houses have been cut down and a bridge was washed away by the flooding of the Kuma River.
Floods and landslides have devastated the region, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to initially publish its highest level of alert, although the alarm was later lowered.
This is not the first time that heavy rains have caused massive evacuations in the country; In July 2018, more than 2 million people were forced to leave their homes after up to 70 inches of rain caused some of the worst flooding on record in Japan, according to the Washington Post.
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