TOKYO, Aug 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Japanese authorities on Monday urged millions to evacuate their homes after heavy rains unleashed floods and landslides in the country's southwest, leaving several residents missing.

Television footage from various communities in Kumamoto prefecture showed houses, stores and vehicles submerged in about a metre (3.3 feet) of water.

Surging rivers swept away vehicles and damaged roads.

In six hours to early Monday, more than 37 centimetres (14.5 inches) of rain fell in Kumamoto prefecture's hardest-hit Tamana city, a record for the area, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

"The situation is life-threatening and safety must be ensured immediately," the weather agency said.

"Maximum vigilance is required even in places where disasters are not normally considered to occur."

Evacuation advisories and warnings were issued to more than three million residents in the southwestern regions, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Some 384,000 residents, mostly in Kumamoto, faced Japan's most serious evacuation warning, it said.

A father in Kosa town in Kumamoto went missing early Monday after a landslide hit near his house while he stood outside his vehicle, a town official told AFP.

His wife and their two children were safe inside the car, the official said.

In Misato town, also in Kumamoto, rescuers were trying to reach an elderly man trapped inside his house after it was struck by a landslide, the town's duty official told AFP.

"Rain was so heavy that I couldn't see what's in front of me for four to five hours," Misato town official Kazuhiro Masunaga told AFP.

Two people in Fukuoka city reportedly were swept away in a surging river Sunday and remained missing, national broadcaster NHK said.