Kirk here. Directives to evacuate (hinan shiji) have already been issued for Amakusa and Minami Oguni:
https://crisis.yahoo.co.jp/evacuation/43/
If you live in those areas, you need to either evacuate or make sure that your circumstances don’t require evacuation. As I wrote a week or so ago (which now feels like a rehearsal for today), there are exceptions to evacuation directives. That post, which includes screenshots and a link to an officially sanctioned explanation, is here:
Flooding is one risk but landslides are a concern in mountainous areas so high elevation doesn’t necessarily mean you have nothing to worry about. I suspect the call for evacuation in Minami Oguni is primarily intended for people who live in areas where landslide risk is an issue.
I posted earlier today about Kumamoto City’s hazard map:
Since then, I learned that NHK offers a hazard map that covers the entire country and also includes landslide risk. If you’re not sure about whether or not you need to evacuate, you might want to check that out:
https://www.nhk.or.jp/kishou-saigai/hazardmap/
I should also say that loss of power and disruption of water service are possibilities. So, I’ll be storing some extra drinking water and I already have provisions that will allow my wife and me to hunker down until the storm passes. I recommend similar preparations – just in case.
I’m not planning to post many updates during the storm. I hope I’ve provided the basic information that residents need to decide how they want to deal with this. If I’ve missed something you think is important. Please write a note in a comment or message the page. I’ll try to respond promptly.