Heavy rain emergency warning issued for southwestern Japanese city

TOKYO, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan's weather agency issued a heavy rain emergency warning on Friday morning for the city of Kirishima in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, calling for the highest level of caution against landslides and flooding in low-lying areas and overflowing rivers.

The highest-level warning on the country's five-tier disaster alert system, the first of the year, came after Kirishima logged record rainfall, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

A part of Kirishima registered 107.5 mm of rain in the hour to 3 a.m. local time on Friday, the heaviest on record at the location. The 12-hour total reached over 480 mm, about 1.8 times the city's August average.

Torrential rain is expected to continue in the Kyushu region, including Kagoshima, through Sunday, the JMA said.

The amount of rain in the 24 hours to Saturday morning is expected to be 200 mm in southern Kyushu, and 120 mm in northern Kyushu, it added.

Weather officials warned people to remain on alert as dangerous conditions may already exist in affected areas. ■