TOKYO: Record rainfall devastated parts of Japan on Saturday, killing at least 30 people, as homes disappeared beneath floodwaters and landslides, and authorities ordered over 1.9 million evacuations.

The unprecedented downpours have wreaked havoc primarily in the west of the country, with flash floods and landslides leaving dozens more missing in addition to those killed.

A local official in Ehime, in western Japan, said the toll in his area had jumped from six to 16, bringing the official national fatality figure to at least 30 dead since the massive rains began Thursday.

But that figure was expected to rise further, with public broadcaster NHK saying the toll was at 49.

“The number of casualties is expected to increase as we are still in the middle of collecting information,” Yoshinobu Katsuura, a disaster management official of Ehime prefecture, told AFP. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned “the situation is extremely serious” and ordered his government to “make an all-out effort” to rescue those affected.—AFP