Two people were confirmed dead on Wednesday as heavy rains pounded southwest Japan, prompting flood and landslide warnings and orders for 870,000 people to seek safety.
More than a million more people were advised to leave their homes after the country’s weather agency raised the alert to its highest level for parts of northern Kyushu.
The emergency warning is issued “if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes”.
Officials confirmed two deaths, one in western Saga prefecture where a man was found in a car that had been swept away. A second man died in Fukuoka as he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters. Read more