At least 13 reported missing as torrential rain hits Japan’s Kyushu

TOKYO: Unprecedented torrential rains pounded Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, where at least 13 people have gone missing as weather officials warned against the threat of floods and landslides, public broadcaster NHK said on Saturday.
Television broadcast images of houses and cars submerged in muddy waters in the prefecture of Kumamoto, where NHK said the flooding Kuma River was cutting off homes and had washed away a bridge.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its highest grade of warning for floods and landslides triggered by the rain “never seen” before in the region, the broadcaster added.
More than 100 appeals for rescue flowed in to local authorities but they could not respond to all immediately, NHK said.