Torrential rain hits Shimane prefecture, west Japan

Recorded 201 millimeters of rain in three hours hit the city of Gotsu in west part of Shimane prefecture in west Japan earlier Saturday and the country's weather agency urged people there to take immediate action to protect life, according to local media. The measured rainfall was more than the average for the whole August and is expected to reach 250 millimeters in a 24-hour period through Sunday in the Chugoku area and northern Kyushu, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). In the Gotsu area, local authorities urged around 36,000 residents of some 14,000 households to evacuate as of 9:30 a.m. after the torrential rain, said Japan's Kyodo News. The heavy rain also caused mudslides in the area as one house in Gotsu and another in the city of Hamada collapsed due to the derivative disaster, said the prefectural government, adding no one was injured. An 86-year-old man in the town of Onan is missing after going to check his rice field, said the report, quoting the local government. The JMA called for vigilance against mudslides and river floods in Shimane prefecture and said some parts of the west Japan will be hit by heavy rains of 80 millimeters per hour through Sunday.