Flooded streets, collapsed bridges and overflowing rivers. As torrential rains continue this Friday on the coast of the Sea of Japan, in the northeast of the country, more than 500,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the affected regions since Thursday morning, reports the Japanese newspaper. JapanTimes.
The rains caused extensive flooding and landslides, particularly in the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions. Consequences of the rainfall, television images show houses devastated and uninhabitable due to the effect of the floods, as well as completely collapsed bridges.
In total, even according to Japanese media citing the government, 45 rivers overflowed their banks.
Two missing and three wounded
Authorities, warning people of an increased risk of landslides, also said two people were missing and three were reported injured.
Some 1,900 houses lost power and 380 were left without water after heavy rains, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said at a news conference on Thursday morning.
Alerts have been issued for several regions and municipalities with a maximum alert level in some places, the rains are expected to continue at least until Friday night.
Consequence of global warming
In similar floods in 2018 and 2021, almost 300 people died. In 2021, heavy rains triggered a gigantic landslide in the central Japanese resort town of Atami, killing 27 people.
And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the annual rainy season.
According to scientists, global warming favors the risk of heavy rains in Japan, as in other parts of the world, to the extent that a warmer atmosphere retains more water.
Source: BFM TV
