Torrential rain left one person dead and several others missing on Monday in southwestern Japan, forcing thousands to leave their homes, officials said, adding that forecasters predicted the region’s “worst rainfall ever”. Heavy rain” has been warned.
Torrential rains after a week of incessant rain have caused river levels to rise and wet earth to collapse in deadly landslides, including the death of a 77-year-old woman. AFP,
The local fire department reported that the woman’s house caught fire overnight in the Saga area AFP, Her husband has regained consciousness and has been taken to the hospital.
A second woman was feared dead after she was last seen clinging to her car in rising flood waters in the neighboring Oita region, officials said.
At least nine other people were missing in landslides in the Fukuoka and Oita regions, where more than 420,000 people were under a top-level evacuation warning: “Your life is in danger, you need to act immediately.”
More than 2 million people were under a low-level alert in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Saga, Yamaguchi and Oita, urging them to evacuate if they are in dangerous areas.
Japan has a five-level evacuation order, but people cannot be forced to leave their homes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the heavy rains threatened flash floods and landslides in Fukuoka and Oita.
“It is the heaviest rainfall the region has ever seen,” Satoshi Sugimoto of the JMA’s forecasting division told reporters.
“The situation is such that lives are in danger and security must be ensured,” he said.
don’t hesitate, act
footage on the national broadcaster NHK The town of Karatsu showed a gash in the hillside above a house that had partially fallen into the river, with many of its traditional roof tiles broken or ripped off.
The Prime Minister’s Office said a task force has been set up to coordinate the response to the rains.
Top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, “We have received reports that several rivers are in flood … and landslides have occurred in various parts of the country.”
“The government is trying its best to get a complete picture of the loss and is taking steps under the policy of ‘people’s lives first’,” he said.
He warned that torrential rain is expected in most parts of the country on Tuesday.
“If you feel your life is in danger, even the slightest bit, don’t hesitate to take action,” he said.
In the city of Asakura in Fukuoka, officials said the rains were believed to have peaked but there was still a risk of flooding.
“The water level in the rivers is rising, so we are alert to the possibility of overflow,” said local official Takaaki Harano. AFP,
Scientists say climate change is increasing the risk of heavy rain in Japan and elsewhere as a warmer atmosphere holds more water.
The weather agency said that it has already been raining in the region for more than a week.
“The area is very wet because of intermittent rains for more than a week,” Yoshiyuki Toyoguchi, the land ministry official in charge of rivers, told reporters.
“Even with little rain, the river level rises rapidly, which will increase the risk of flooding.”
In 2021, rains caused a devastating landslide in the central resort town of Atami, killing 27 people.
And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the rainy season.
