Heavy Rain Batters Central Japan, Causing Landslides, Flooding

TOKYO, Aug 27 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Heavy rain battered parts of central Japan on Thursday, causing landslides and flooding with a series of reports of cars becoming submerged and calls for rescue, Kyodo News reported.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a special heavy rain warning for some areas in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures, with residents warned to evacuate or take immediate steps to ensure their safety amid life-threatening conditions.

The Level 5 warning, the highest warning for heavy rain, indicating that a disaster has likely occurred or is imminent, was issued for municipalities including Himi in Toyama Prefecture and Hakui, Shika, Hodatsushimizu and Nakanoto in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Residents were urged to heed local authorities' evacuation advisories and remain vigilant against landslides. Around 180,000 people in five municipalities in the two prefectures were urged to take the safety measures.

In Himi, a man in his 50s who is part of a local firefighting corps, told Kyodo News over the phone that a river had overflowed and that several cars were submerged.

There were no reports of casualties so far, according to the Ishikawa prefectural government.

In the 12 hours up to 7.20 am, heavy rain of over 300 millimetres (mm) fell in Himi and Hakui, and over 200 mm in Hodatsushimizu, setting new records at each location.

According to the agency, a front is extending eastward from the Sea of Japan through northern and eastern Japan and is expected to move southward through Friday. Atmospheric conditions will become extremely unstable due to a cold-air mass and a trough of low pressure.

Over a 24-hour period through noon Friday, the agency is expecting up to 200 mm of rain in Hokuriku and up to 150 mm for the Kanto-Koshin and Tokai regions.

Heavy rain has also hit Niigata Prefecture, which neighbours Toyama.

Earlier this month, a Level 5 warning was issued in some municipalities in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, due to heavy rain, which resulted in flooding, leaving 13 people dead. Cars on roads across the prefecture were subsequently immobilised by the flood, with around 2,500 vehicles abandoned at one point.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO