Kurashiki

Workers install a battery for a new electric vehicle model at Mitsubishi Motor Corp's factory in Kurashiki, Japan May 19, 2022.

The cities of Hiroshima and Kurashiki and nearby areas were hardest hit.

Also hard-hit was neighboring Okayama prefecture, where a river embankment collapsed in Kurashiki city, submerging neighborhoods in one-story high floodwaters.

Two years ago, Kurashiki City drafted its own colorful hazard maps.

Kurashiki Mayor Kaori Ito announced the first evacuation order, for the area south of the Odagawa river, at 11:45 p.m.