Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan is experiencing its heaviest rainfall in history, worsening damage from an earthquake earlier this year.
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Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan is experiencing its heaviest rainfall in history, worsening damage from an earthquake earlier this year. The latest death toll has risen to 1, with 10 people missing.
Foreign news agencies reported that one person has died and 10 are missing after unprecedented heavy rains hit the Noto region in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, on Saturday, September 21, 2024, causing flooding and forcing the Japanese Meteorological Agency to issue its highest level of heavy rain warning.
A linear rainband formed and dumped more than 120 mm of rain per hour in Wajima City in the Noto region early Saturday, the heaviest rainfall since records began in 1929, Japan Today reported.
Ishikawa prefecture officials said one person was found dead in Suzu city in the Noto region, while 10 people were missing in Wajima. The fire department said three people were swept away by rivers in Suzu, Wajima and Noto.
The Land and Coastal Resources Agency, which is responsible for rebuilding the Noto region from the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day, said four people were missing after a landslide struck a construction site for a tunnel in the town of Wajima, which was also damaged by the quake.
Ishikawa prefectural officials also said flooding affected many homes and power outages affected about 3,100 households in Wajima, 1,200 in Suzu and 960 in Noto.
More than 10 rivers in Ishikawa Prefecture had burst their banks as of 11 a.m. local time Saturday, Japan’s land ministry said, with authorities urging more than 44,700 people to evacuate as several dams were damaged in the quake, raising the risk of flooding even at low levels.
About 16,700 people in Niigata and Yamagata prefectures, northeast of Ishikawa prefecture, were also warned to evacuate.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) also warned that warm, humid air was moving into a low-pressure area, which would cause severe weather conditions in the Tohoku region in the northeast of the country, and urged people to beware of landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and overflowing rivers on Sunday.
JR East, the operator of bullet trains in eastern, northeastern and central Japan, has decided to suspend its Yamagata Shinkansen service in the Tohoku region throughout Saturday, as several roads were closed due to heavy rain.