An aerial view shows flooded Kuma River caused by heavy rain at a residential area in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 4, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

Japan is sending thousands of troops to join rescue operations on the southern island of Kyushu, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Saturday (July 4), after 13 people went missing in unprecedented torrential rains that threaten floods and landslides.

Television broadcast images of houses submerged in muddy waters in the prefecture of Kumamoto, where public broadcaster NHK said the flooding Kuma River was cutting off homes and had washed away a bridge.

People in the area are required to be on the maximum alert, Abe said, adding that as many as 10,000 members of Japan�s Self Defense Forces would be dispatched to the region.

More than 100 appeals for rescue to local authorities could not be immediately responded to, NHK said. However, Japan�s Meteorological Agency downgraded its alert from the highest level it had initially posted to warn against floods and landslides triggered by the rain never seen before in the region, the broadcaster added.

Powerful Typhoon Hagibis roars towards Japan�s coast, killing one person and bringing unprecedented downpours that prompts authorities to issue their highest-level rain disaster warning pic.twitter.com/jW1ZnY2YWB

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 12, 2019

Typhoon Jebi, the strongest to make landfall in Japan since 1993, slams into the western part of the country, causing floods and disrupting land and air travelhttps://t.co/9vbegIe8yw pic.twitter.com/X70h2fqhNz

— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) September 4, 2018

(Source: Reuters)