More Kumamoto Areas Face Heavy Rain Emergency Warning (Update 1)

Jiji Press

10:04 JST, August 11, 2025 (updated at 01:00 JST, Aug. 11)

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Japan Meteorological Agency expanded its heavy rain emergency warning to more areas of Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Monday morning, urging residents to secure their safety immediately.

The agency issued the warning as heavy rain lashed the northern part of the Kyushu region including Kumamoto.

The warning was issued for the cities of Yatsushiro and Uki and the town of Hikawa at 5:25 a.m., the city of Kamiamakusa at 8:10 a.m. and the city of Amakusa at 9:15 a.m. in addition to the city of Tamana and the town of Nagasu, both of which received it at 12:20 a.m.

Local authorities in the seven municipalities plus the towns of Misato and Gyokuto told residents to secure their safety immediately by ordering emergency safety measures, the highest of five disaster alert levels.

“It is highly likely that a disaster has already occurred. We want people to ensure their safety immediately,” Shuichi Tachihara, director of the agency’s Forecast Division, said at a press conference.

In the town of Kosa, three people, including two children, were rescued after a vehicle with four people inside was struck by a landslide. Search efforts continue for a man in his 50s.

Linear precipitation zones, or strings of developed rain clouds that often bring torrential rain, formed intermittently in Kumamoto and neighboring Nagasaki Prefecture.

Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu, said it fully suspended operations on the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed train line due to heavy rain.

In Tamana, rainfall over the 12 hours until 8:10 a.m. reached 404.5 millimeters, while in the Kumamoto town of Yamato, rainfall over the 12 hours until 9 a.m. totaled 386.5 millimeters. Chuo Ward in the city of Kumamoto had 363.5 millimeters of rainfall over the 12 hours until 9 a.m. All set record highs for those locations.