Bridges collapsed and rivers burst their banks Thursday after heavy rains in northern Japan where 200,000 residents were told to evacuate the affected areas. Two people were missing, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, as authorities warned of an increased risk of landslides and flooding.
Television footage showed a muddy cluster of trees swept away towards a mountainous residential area, while other footage showed houses flooded by an overflowing river and a totally collapsed bridge. State broadcaster NHK said non-binding evacuation notices had been issued for 200,000 residents in five departments across the country: Niigata, Yamagata, Fukushima, Ishikawa and Fukui. Some high-speed trains (shinkansen) have been suspended in affected areas.
In 2021, heavy rains caused a gigantic landslide in the seaside resort of Atami (central Japan), where 27 people were killed. And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the annual rainy season. According to scientists, global warming increases the risk of intense rainfall events in Japan, as elsewhere in the world, insofar as a warmer atmosphere retains more water.