One dead and several missing after ‘unprecedented’ rains in Japan
One person has died, and seven others are missing after “unprecedented” rainfall triggered floods and landslides in the quake-hit coastal region of Ishikawa in northern Japan, officials reported.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its highest “life-threatening” alert for the Ishikawa region on Saturday, as torrential rain is expected to continue until midday on Sunday.
More than 40,000 residents across four cities have been ordered to evacuate after over a dozen rivers overflowed in the region.
According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, two of the missing were swept away by powerful river currents, while four workers involved in road repairs following a deadly New Year’s Day earthquake are also unaccounted for.
NHK further reported that over 120mm (4.7 inches) of rain fell in Wajima on Saturday morning, marking the heaviest downpour in the region since records began.
JMA forecaster Sugimoto Satoshi told reporters: “This level of downpours has never been experienced in this region before. Residents must secure their safety immediately. The risk to their lives is imminent.”
Footage aired by NHK showed an entire street in Wajima submerged underwater.
Government official Koji Yamamoto told AFP that 60 people had been working to restore a road hit by the quake in Wajima, but were hit by a landslide on Saturday morning.
“I asked [contractors] to check the safety of workers… but we are still unable to contact four people,” Mr Yamamoto said.
He said that rescue workers who had tried to gain access to the site were “blocked by landslides”.
A further two people have been seriously injured, according to government officials.
Some 6,000 households have been left without power, with an unknown number of households without running water, AFP agency reported.
The cities of Wajima and Suzu and the town of Noto have ordered some 44,000 residents to evacuate and seek shelter in Ishikawa prefecture, Honshu island.
Meanwhile, another 16,000 residents in the Niigata and Yamagata prefectures north of Ishikawa were also told to evacuate, the AFP news agency said.
Wajima and Suzu, in central Japan’s Noto peninsula, were among the areas hardest hit by a huge 7.5 magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day that killed at least 236 people.
The region is still recovering from the powerful quake which had toppled buildings, ripped up roads, and sparked a major fire.
Japan has seen unprecedented rainfall in parts of the country in recent years, with floods and landslides sometimes causing casualties.
