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Downpours continued to inundate wide swathes of southwest and central Japan on Wednesday leading to the weather agency here issuing its highest alert level for heavy rain in areas in Gifu and Nagano prefectures before downgrading it later in the day.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the turbulent weather front moved from the southwest island of Kyushu where it has already wreaked havoc on numerous prefectures there, to the central Japan region of Tokai.
In Gifu Prefecture, around 220,000 people were advised to evacuate, with 5,000 people left temporarily stranded by roads being cut off by rain-triggered landlines, local authorities said Wednesday.
In Kyushu, hard-hit since the deluge began last Saturday, torrential rain-related fatalities increased to 59 people, according to public broadcaster NHK as of Wednesday evening, with five people showing no vital signs and 17 still unaccounted for.
The land ministry said that as of Wednesday morning, 22 rivers in Kyushu and Ehime prefectures had flooded, including the major Chikugo and Oita rivers in Oita Prefecture, with landslides occurring at more than 100 locations.
The Japanese government is planning to designate the heavy rain that pummeled Kyushu as a "severe natural disaster" in order to increase state subsidies for reconstruction work, its top government spokesperson said Wednesday.
According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government is currently assessing the extent of the damage to decide which areas should be covered by the emergency measure.
Suga on Wednesday also called on people to remain vigilant for further downpours across wide swathes of the nation, including both western to northeastern parts of the country.
He said that the rain front is expected to remain through Friday.
