TOKYO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Torrential rain has pummeled Kyushu, the southwesternmost of Japan's main islands, leaving one person dead and at least 11 unaccounted for due to intensive flooding and mudslides in the region on Thursday.
Local media reported that a body was discovered in Asakura City in Fukuoka Prefecture, following the torrential rain, while in Hita City in Oita Prefecture, a man is feared dead after being buried in a mudslide.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has upheld its "utmost vigilance" warnings in Fukuoka and Oita prefectures and has stated under these unstable atmospheric conditions, "once-in-decade" disasters are possible.
A total of 570,000 people spanning the four prefectures of Fukuoka, Oita, Kumamoto and Saga, were ordered or advised to evacuate, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.
As many as 6,300 homes were left without power in Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Oita prefectures on Thursday, local officials said and according to the Fukuoka prefectural government, a total of 11 people who may have been swept away still remained missing.
Local police, however, have confirmed the safety of three prefectural workers in Fukuoka and a man in his 60s in Oita, who a day earlier could not be accounted for.
In Asakura City in Fukuoka, one of the areas hardest-hit by a flooded river, 54 people, including 18 school pupils were left stranded at an elementary school due to the heavy downpours, local media said.
The city recorded a record of 542 millimeters of rainfall over a 24-hour period through 8 a.m. local time Thursday.
Rainfall of over 50 millimeters per hour was registered in some areas in Kyushu and further downpours are expected through Friday, the JMA said.
According to NHK, land ministry officials said that a number of rivers in the region were at risk of flooding.
In Asakura City, a part of a junior high school collapsed, NHK reported, adding that in Hita City, a steel bridge on the JR Kyudai Line had been completely washed away.
The government said it has put in place a system to immediately dispatch relief supplies to be delivered to the places where they're most needed, adding that investigative teams will be sent to Fukuoka and Oita prefectures.
Disaster Management Minister Jun Matsumoto told an emergency meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday, "We are yet to grasp the whole picture of the damage."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Thursday that the government is doing all it can to rescue people and assess the damage from the downpours in northern Kyushu.
The government's top spokesperson added that 7,800 police officers, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel had been dispatched for search and rescue operations and are working closely with prefectural and municipal officials in the affected areas.
He said that a further 5,000 SDF troops are ready to be deployed to the worst-hit regions, if the situation worsens and search and if the current rescue teams need to expand or intensify their operations.
Suga also said that 40 helicopters are currently on stand-by, with some of them being used to make aerial assessments of the damage on the ground, when the weather conditions improve.
