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One person has died in a landslide and hundreds of thousands of people have been urged to evacuate their homes in southwestern Japan, where meteorologists warned Monday of “absolutely heavy rain” in the region.
A 77-year-old woman has been confirmed dead in a landslide that hit her home overnight in the countryside FukuokaThe local fire department told AFP.
Her husband recovered consciousness and was taken to the hospital.
Local authorities said three people were also missing after a landslide in Karatsu city in Saga Prefecture, which borders Fukuoka.
By late Monday morning, more than 420,000 people in Fukuoka Prefecture and neighboring Oita Prefecture were under a high-profile evacuation warning telling people: “Your life is in danger, take action immediately.”
More than two million people through Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Saga, Yamaguchi The Oita prefectures were under a low-level warning, urging them to evacuate if they were in dangerous areas.
Japan has a five-level evacuation order, but people cannot be forced to leave their homes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said heavy rainfall threatened floods and landslides across the Fukuoka and Oita regions.
“A special heavy rain warning has been issued for municipalities in Fukuoka Prefecture. This is the heaviest rain the region has ever seen,” Satoshi Sugimoto of the JMA’s forecast department told reporters.
“There is a high probability of a catastrophe of some kind… the situation is so serious that lives are in danger and safety must be ensured,” he added.
Footage broadcast by national broadcaster NHK showed a gash in the hillside above a house in the city of Karatsu that partially collapsed into a river, with several traditional roof tiles smashed or slipped.
Images from elsewhere showed gushing rivers drifting over bridges that are usually above the waterline and floodwaters turning local streets into waterways.
The Prime Minister’s Office said a task force had been set up to coordinate the response to the rains.
“We have received reports of several rivers overflowing… and landslides have occurred in different parts” of the country, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.
He added, “The government is doing its best to get a complete picture of the damage and take measures under the ‘people’s lives first’ policy.”
Operator JR West said heavy rain had caused travel disruptions, including the temporary halt of express train service between Hiroshima West and Fukuoka.
Matsuno said thousands of homes in western Japan had lost power.
Japan is currently going through its annual rainy season, which often brings heavy rains, and sometimes leads to floods and landslides, as well as casualties.
Scientists say climate change is compounding the risk of heavy rains in Japan and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.
The weather agency said it had already been raining for more than a week in the area.
“The area is very wet because it has been raining intermittently for more than a week,” Yoshiyuki Toyoguchi, a land ministry official in charge of rivers, told reporters.
“Even with very little rain, river levels tend to rise quickly, which will increase the risk of flooding.”
Landslides are a particular danger in Japan during heavy rains, because homes are often built on plains below the hillsides of the mountainous country.
In 2021, rain triggered a devastating landslide in the central resort of Atami, killing 27 people.
And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the rainy season.
A 77-year-old woman has been confirmed dead in a landslide that hit her home overnight in the countryside FukuokaThe local fire department told AFP.
Her husband recovered consciousness and was taken to the hospital.
Local authorities said three people were also missing after a landslide in Karatsu city in Saga Prefecture, which borders Fukuoka.
By late Monday morning, more than 420,000 people in Fukuoka Prefecture and neighboring Oita Prefecture were under a high-profile evacuation warning telling people: “Your life is in danger, take action immediately.”
More than two million people through Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Saga, Yamaguchi The Oita prefectures were under a low-level warning, urging them to evacuate if they were in dangerous areas.
Japan has a five-level evacuation order, but people cannot be forced to leave their homes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said heavy rainfall threatened floods and landslides across the Fukuoka and Oita regions.
“A special heavy rain warning has been issued for municipalities in Fukuoka Prefecture. This is the heaviest rain the region has ever seen,” Satoshi Sugimoto of the JMA’s forecast department told reporters.
“There is a high probability of a catastrophe of some kind… the situation is so serious that lives are in danger and safety must be ensured,” he added.
Footage broadcast by national broadcaster NHK showed a gash in the hillside above a house in the city of Karatsu that partially collapsed into a river, with several traditional roof tiles smashed or slipped.
Images from elsewhere showed gushing rivers drifting over bridges that are usually above the waterline and floodwaters turning local streets into waterways.
The Prime Minister’s Office said a task force had been set up to coordinate the response to the rains.
“We have received reports of several rivers overflowing… and landslides have occurred in different parts” of the country, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.
He added, “The government is doing its best to get a complete picture of the damage and take measures under the ‘people’s lives first’ policy.”
Operator JR West said heavy rain had caused travel disruptions, including the temporary halt of express train service between Hiroshima West and Fukuoka.
Matsuno said thousands of homes in western Japan had lost power.
Japan is currently going through its annual rainy season, which often brings heavy rains, and sometimes leads to floods and landslides, as well as casualties.
Scientists say climate change is compounding the risk of heavy rains in Japan and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.
The weather agency said it had already been raining for more than a week in the area.
“The area is very wet because it has been raining intermittently for more than a week,” Yoshiyuki Toyoguchi, a land ministry official in charge of rivers, told reporters.
“Even with very little rain, river levels tend to rise quickly, which will increase the risk of flooding.”
Landslides are a particular danger in Japan during heavy rains, because homes are often built on plains below the hillsides of the mountainous country.
In 2021, rain triggered a devastating landslide in the central resort of Atami, killing 27 people.
And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the rainy season.
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