60,000 residents evacuated due to flooding and torrential rains

Screenshot of a surveillance video recorded in Ishikawa Prefecture on September 21, 2024.

Authorities on Saturday ordered the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents in central Japan due to flooding caused by heavy rains, with one person reported missing. Some 44,700 residents of the cities of Wajima, Suzu and Noto in Ishikawa Prefecture were forced to leave the area, local officials said.

By mid-morning in Japan, flooding had been confirmed in about a dozen rivers in the region, Masaru Kojima of the land ministry said. Three of them had burst their banks and the floodwaters had reached nearby towns, an official told Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that damage to buildings and infrastructure was being assessed.

One person is missing in Wajima, where multiple buildings were flooded and roads blocked by landslides, the department said in a statement.

At least one house was hit by a landslide, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which did not give further details.

Maximum alert in Ishikawa Prefecture

The Japan Meteorological Agency has placed Ishikawa Prefecture on high alert, warning of potential hazards “mortals”. Satoshi Sugimoto, a forecaster at the agency, reported “torrential rains of unprecedented magnitude”Wajima and Suzu were among the cities hardest hit by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake on May 1.er last January, which left at least 236 dead in central Japan.

Read also: In Japan, after the powerful earthquake, rescuers face very bad weather

The region is still recovering from the disaster, which flattened buildings, destroyed roads and caused a major fire. About 16,000 residents in neighboring Niigata Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture to the northeast have also been ordered to evacuate, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Rainfall levels in Japan have hit record highs in recent years in several parts of the country, leading to floods and landslides that have sometimes been deadly. Experts say climate change is making these events more frequent, intense and unpredictable.

The World with AFP

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