Heavy Rain Causes Floods in Hokkaido

July 4, 2018

Sapporo- Heavy rain caused floods and mudslides in some parts of Hokkaido in northern Japan on Tuesday.

Areas along the rivers of Ishikari and Uryu in western Hokkaido had floods, while in Rumoi, evacuation orders had been issued to nearly 300 people as of 1 p.m. (4 a.m. GMT) due to a swollen river.

In the central Hokkaido town of Higashikawa, about 130 people including tourists were isolated in the hot spa district of Tenninkyo because local roads were damaged owing to floods from the Chubetsu river.

Evacuation orders were issued in some other municipalities including the central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa.

Hokkaido Railway Co., better known as JR Hokkaido, had canceled 171 trains as of 5:30 p.m. The Hokkaido board of education said 15 schools in the prefecture were closed. Jiji Press