Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Thursday more than 3,000 households were isolated, either by rising floodwater or roads destroyed by landslides, mostly in the hardest-hit southwestern region of Kumamoto where fresh downpours were forecast.
The rain front started in the southwest in the early hours of Saturday and has since cut a swathe of destruction across Japan, dumping record amounts of rain and causing swollen rivers to break their banks.
Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA) said "heavy rain will likely continue at least until July 12 in a wide area" of the country, calling for "extreme vigilance" on landslide risks and flooding in low-lying areas.
The JMA issued its second-highest evacuation order to more than 450,000 people. However, such orders are not compulsory and most residents are choosing not to go to shelters, possibly due to coronavirus fears.
An official in Kumamoto said 55 people from the region were confirmed to have perished with four others feared dead.
Two other deaths have been confirmed on Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu and more than a dozen people are missing or unaccounted for, authorities said.
After five days blocked by floodwater and landslides, troops finally managed to rescue some 40 residents in the village of Ashikita in the Kumamoto region.
In many areas, landslides reduced houses to rubble and floodwater rushed into homes in low-lying areas, destroying the contents and rendering them uninhabitable.
Japan has deployed at least 80,000 rescue workers to save lives with the aid of another 10,000 troops.
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