One person has died, and seven others are missing after heavy rain caused floods and landslides in Japan’s Ishikawa region.
This area is still trying to recover from an earthquake that happened on New Year’s Day.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) gave a “life-threatening” alert for Ishikawa on Saturday, saying the rain would last until midday on Sunday.
More than 40,000 people in four cities had to leave their homes because at least twelve rivers overflowed.
Among the missing are two people who were swept away by strong river currents, says Japan’s public TV channel NHK. Also, four workers fixing roads damaged by the January earthquake are missing after being caught in a landslide on Saturday morning.
Wajima, one of the worst-hit cities, got more than 120mm (4.7 inches) of rain. NHK broadcasted videos showing streets in Wajima completely underwater.
JMA forecaster Sugimoto Satoshi said, “This much rain has never happened in this region before. People need to stay safe right now. Their lives are in danger.”
Koji Yamamoto, a local government worker, said 60 people were fixing a road in Wajima when a landslide happened.
“I asked contractors to check if the workers were safe… but we still can’t reach four people,” he told AFP. He added that rescue workers trying to get to the scene were blocked by more landslides.
The storms have also caused power cuts, leaving about 6,000 homes without electricity and some without water.
Two people have been seriously hurt, and 44,000 residents in Ishikawa were told to leave their homes. Another 16,000 people in the neighboring Niigata and Yamagata areas were also advised to evacuate.
This area, on Honshu island’s Noto Peninsula, was also hit hard by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day, which killed 236 people.
The earthquake caused a lot of damage, like fallen buildings and broken roads. People were still trying to fix things from the earthquake when the heavy rains came.
Japan has had more and more severe weather in recent years, with floods and landslides becoming common and sometimes deadly.