Heavy rain hits western Japan, leaving 1 dead, others missing

TOKYO — Torrential rain hit western Japan early Wednesday, leaving one woman dead and several other people missing, and forcing local governments to recommend that more than 170,000 people evacuate from their homes amid flood warnings. The woman who died was pulled from a river in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, local police said.
 
In Sera, Hiroshima Prefecture, a woman was missing after three others were rescued from a house hit by a landslide. A man also went missing in Tsuwano, Shimane Prefecture.
   
Among those subject to evacuation recommendations were 125,000 people in Fukuoka and Saga prefectures in northern Kyushu, including some places that recorded more than 100 millimeters of rain per hour. The remaining 48,000 were in Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures.
   
Heavy rain forced West Japan Railway Co to suspend bullet train runs between Hiroshima and Kokura in Fukuoka Prefecture for two and a half hours, affecting 16,500 passengers.
   
It also affected train traffic in western Japan prefectures ranging from Fukuoka to Kyoto and Osaka. Expressways were partially shut in the prefectures.