[Fertionbratte]

Jul. 12, 2012 - Updated 10:52 UTC (19:52 JST) | HHK World

Torrential rains have lashed Kyushu island in western Japan, leaving 11 dead and 15 missing.

The rain began in the early hours of Thursday morning as a seasonal rain front was activated by warm
and moist southerly winds. In Kumamoto and neighboring Oita prefectures, hourly rainfalls of 100
millimeters were recorded.

In Aso, Kumamoto, hit by a record 500 millimeters of rain, and neighboring Minami-Aso, landslides
washed away houses. The police say 10 people died and 14 are missing.

In Taketa City, Oita, a man in his 70s drowned in a swollen river and another man in his 80s is missing.
He had left his home to check on his rice paddies.

Experts say hourly rain of 100 millimeters, the amount that hit some areas of Kyushu, has enough
destructive power to spark a large-scale disaster.

The Meteorological Agency says hourly rainfall of over 80 millimeters causes fear and stress. It makes
driving hazardous and can cause a major disaster.

Chuo University Professor Tadashi Yamada says heavy rain of the type that hit Aso, located on a
caldera of Mount Aso, flows down the surfaces of mountains before being absorbed into the soil.

The quick erosion of the soil is likely to cause mudslides, and the water rapidly raises river levels,
increasing the risks of flooding.

On Thursday, the meteorological agency warned Kumamoto and Oita prefectures that the size of the
expected rainfall was unprecedented.

The agency decided to use the expression a month ago to send out a strong warning that the rainfall
was of a type that only hit once in 50 years.