Record torrential rain on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu triggered mudslides and flooding, leaving at least 19 people dead and eight missing, dpa reported according to the news reports said Friday.
In Aso, where 17 people died, authorities told its 28,000 residents to flee the city, as more rain was expected in the region later in the day, broadcaster NHK reported. One person died in Minami Aso and another in Taketa.
Blackouts hit up to 10,100 households in Kumamoto and Oita prefectures, the Kyushu Electric Power Co told the Kyodo News agency, while some mobile phone services and landline telephones were partially disrupted.
In Aso and Minami Aso, houses were swept away by landslides as parts of the areas were hit by a record 500 millimetres of rain Thursday, broadcaster NHK reported.
The police said five were missing in Aso, one in Minami Aso, one in Taketa and another in Takamori.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said rainfall in some parts of the island, which started in the early hours of Thursday, had reached levels that have "never been experienced."
The agency warned of more landslides and flooding in the northern parts of Kyushu as more rainfall was expected.