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Japan's exceptional rainfall prompts evacuation orders

July 26, 2024

Heavy rains in Japan's northwest have triggered floods and landslides, disrupting transportation and forcing hundreds of residents to take shelter on safer ground.

https://p.dw.com/p/4ikf2
Japan's Self-Defense Force membes rescue residents in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture on July 26, 2024.
Military personnel were deployed to assist with evacuating people trapped by continuous rains in JapanImage: Ryosuke Tsunekage/The Yomiuri Shimbun/picture alliance

At least four people were missing in Japan after heavy rains led to rivers bursting their banks, authorities said on Friday.

Some 200,000 people were asked to evacuate as exceptional rainfall pounded northern Japan this week, according to the fire and disaster management agency.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that some 4,000 people had been moved to shelters. 

Video footage showed landslides and flooded roads with several cars being carried away.

Some roads as well as bullet trains, known as Shinkansen in Japan, were suspended.

A water-covered village due to flooding of Mogami river triggered by torrential rain in northwestern Yamagata prefecture
A water-covered village due to flooding of Mogami river triggered by torrential rain in northwestern Yamagata prefecture Image: Yoshitaka Nishi/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP Photo/picture alliance

Japan's northwestern regions record record rainfall

Two regions in Japan's northwestern prefecture of Yamagata recorded the most rain in 24 hours since 1976, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

Shinjo recorded 389 millimeters (15 inches) and Sakata 289 millimeters, JMA said.

The weather agency said the next three days will see 100 to 200 millimeters of rain per day.

"Three people, including two police officers who were on a mission searching for a missing man, are unaccounted for," an official told AFP news agency.

The military was sent to Yamagata to join rescue activities carried out by police and fire department officials, a government spokesperson said.

At least one dead, four missing: reports

At least one person has died in Akita city, the capital of Akita prefecture in the northern Tohoku region, according to AFP news agency.

Four were reported missing due to heavy rain in Yamagata and Akita prefectures of Honshu island.

Among those missing was a man in his 60s from Yuzawa City and an 86-year-old man from Akita City, said police.

In Yokote city, located in Akita prefecture, rescue workers evacuated 11 from a flooded area using a boat.

More than 3,000 houses had no electricity and more than 1,000 had no running water, according to authorities.

tg/rm (AFP, AP)