The death toll from heavy rains across a wide swath of western Japan rose to at least 50 by Saturday evening and about another 50 people remained missing, as downpours triggered mudslides and flooding smashed homes and swept away cars.
Evacuation orders or advisories were issued for 4.72 million people at one point due to continued downpours. Nearly 50,000 members of the Self-Defense Forces, police and firefighting services were taking part in searches for people trapped, wounded or dead.
Emergency warnings were lifted by the evening in Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Tottori, Okayama, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures but remained in effect in Gifu Prefecture.