A man on Monday inspected a flooded shed in Tamana in the Kumamoto Prefecture on southwestern Japan’s Kyushu island. Kyushu was hit by continuous heavy rainfall due to a stagnant front. It caused Japan’s Meteorological Agency to issue a special heavy rainfall warning in the Kumamoto Prefecture area. Torrential rain triggered floods, landslides and cancellations of bullet train services in western and southwestern Japan. Photo By Jiji Press/EPA
Aug. 11 (UPI) — At least two people may be dead and scores of others still missing after landslides and flooding hit southwest Japan after torrential rain.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged Japanese citizens on Monday to be vigilant and said Japan’s government was “committed to implementing disaster response measures.”
The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a warning of extreme rainfall to residents in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures as it stretched across a wide swath of the archipelago nation.
Rescuers continue the search for the missing with scores of emergency reports.
Water submerged homes and rivers rose over banks as Japanese officials advised tens of thousands in six of Japan’s 47 prefectures to evacuate to safer areas.
“Due to the heavy rain so far, the ground has become loose in some areas, so please continue to be on high alert for landslides, rising river levels and flooding,” JMA officials said earlier in the day.
A Japanese weather official said “there is a real threat to people’s lives” as the agency issued landslide warnings for nine prefectures, including Kumamoto where nearly 2 feet of rain fell in a 24-hour period.
According to the weather office, it was record rainfall for the area.
“I have never experienced rain like this,” Yoichi Tachihara, a JMA official, said during a press briefing.
Officials added that over a foot of rain — or about 370 millimeters — fell in about six hours through Monday in Tamana, Kumamoto, which was nearly double the level of precipitation for the city for the entire month.
“Take the best action to protect your life immediately and with maximum caution,” Japan’s Office of Disaster Management posted Sunday on social media.
Meanwhile, Japanese railway operator JR Kyushu had suspected all bullet trains but resumed operations later in the day.
The record rainfall and flooding to Nippon’s south arrived a few short weeks after a separate record-breaking earthquake in eastern Russia led to a volcanic eruption and tsunami warnings for the Japanese island and in many other global outposts.
AloJapan.com