Heavy rains cause landsides in Japan

July 4, 2019

Tokyo--Heavy rains since Saturday have caused landslides at 43 areas in Japan, mainly the Kyushu southwestern region, the land ministry said Thursday.

A woman in her 80s has gone missing after a landslide destroyed a house in Soo, Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Kyushu. Self-Defense Forces troops and others are searching for the woman.

Authorities called for continued vigilance against landslides after record downpours hit southern Kyushu through Wednesday.

The heavy rains have killed one person and injured three others in Kagoshima, while causing damage to a total of 81 houses in Kagoshima and neighboring Miyazaki and Kumamoto prefectures, as well as the central prefecture of Ishikawa, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

As of 4:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. Wednesday GMT), 8,489 people were staying in evacuation shelters in western Japan, mainly in southern Kyushu.

On Thursday, areas in the southern part of the Kinki western region and the Tokai central and Kanto-Koshin eastern regions were lashed by heavy rains as a seasonal rain front extended along coastal areas while a low-pressure system was moving eastward on the rain front.

The Kagoshima island of Nakanoshima saw massive rainfall of 77 millimeters in the hour until 7:40 a.m. Rainfall of 60.5 millimeters was recorded in the hour until around 5:20 a.m. in Toba in the central prefecture of Mie.

Authorities have also warned of lightning strikes and wind gusts due to unstable air produced by the rain front and the low-pressure system.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a meeting of ministers to discuss responses to the heavy rains for a third straight day.

"The situation is changing by the minute," Abe said at the meeting, calling for providing information swiftly and clearly to protect people while closely cooperating with local authorities and others in rescue operations.

The rain front is forecast to move southward to around Kagoshima's Amami region on Friday before moving north on Saturday or later.

In the 24 hours until Friday noon, rainfall is estimated to reach 120 millimeters on the Kagoshima islands of Tanegashima and Yakushima, 100 millimeters in Kanto-Koshin and 70 millimeters in Tokai. Jiji Press