Car swallowed by a sinkhole during raging floods leading to the evacuation of 500,000 people

Torrential rains are hitting towns and villages in Yamagata, central Niigata, Japan, where roads are now flooded and rivers have overflowed as authorities report at least three missing people and 500,000 mass evacuations

View of a engulfed vehicle on a rain-damaged road in Kawanishi-machi, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan (

Image: TWITTER @ximaverse via REUTERS)

The raging floodwaters rushing through the streets of northern Japan are so violent they created a sinkhole in a village that engulfed a car.

At least three people are missing and thousands have been ordered to evacuate northern Japan where torrential rains are battering the region, flooding roads and causing rivers to burst their banks.

Creepy clips and drone footage showed entire neighborhoods submerged in dirty brown water as water roared through communities in Yamagata, central Japan's Niigata prefecture.

More than 500 mm (19 inches) of rain fell in part of Niigata in the 24 hours to 1 p.m. (5 a.m. BST), state broadcaster NHK said, prompting authorities to issue the most possible high level of disaster warnings in some areas. .

View of a crashed vehicle on a rain-damaged road (

Picture:

TWITTER @ximaverse via REUTERS)

Bridges were cut and roads flooded, TV footage showed. Service on part of a Shinkansen high-speed train line has been suspended.

About 500,000 people have been ordered to escape...