Heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in Japan

tokyo: Nearly two million people were urged to seek shelter as torrential rain triggered floods and landslides in western Japan, leaving at least one dead and three missing.

Authorities in Hiroshima and the northern part of Kyushu issued their highest evacuation alert as the weather agency reported unprecedented levels of rain in the area yesterday.

Under the non-compulsory alert, more than 1.8 million residents had been asked to leave their homes immediately, public broadcaster NHK reported.

TV footage showed rescuers towing residents through submerged streets on a lifeboat in the town of Kurume in Fukuoka, while a muddy stream began to overflow in neighbouring Saga prefecture.

A 59-year-old woman died and two of her family members were missing after a landslide destroyed two houses in Unzen, Nagasaki prefecture, a local official said.

“More than 150 troops, police and firefighters were dispatched to the site for rescue operations,” Takumi Kumasaki said.

“They are carefully searching for the missing residents, while watching out for further mudslides as the heavy rain continues.”

A 76-year-old man was also missing in Kumamoto after he tried to secure his fishing boat at a surging river, a regional official said.

Downpours are forecast for several more days over a large swathe of the country.

Scientists say climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain in Japan and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

“Unprecedented levels of heavy rain have been observed,” Yushi Adachi, a meteorological agency official, said in Tokyo.