Six dead in floods in Japan

(Keystone-ATS) Six people died Saturday and Sunday in floods and landslides in central Japan, local media reported Monday, citing local authorities. Ishikawa Prefecture has been hit by “unprecedented” torrential rains.

NHK television and other media outlets reported six deaths, while a rescue official said there was “one death and five people in cardiac arrest” after torrential rains hit a department already badly hit and in mourning by an earthquake on January 1.

The term “cardiovascular arrest” is used in Japan to refer to people who have died but whose death has not been officially certified by a doctor.

Two workers who were working on a road damaged by the earthquake were found dead after a landslide, while their colleagues were able to take shelter in a tunnel, according to local authorities quoted by NHK.

“Unprecedented” rains

In Wajima, a coastal city in Ishikawa Prefecture, the body of a man was pulled from a river. In Suzu, another city in the region, a person was found under the rubble of his house buried by a landslide. Two people are still missing.

Dozens of muddy rivers burst their banks, causing immense damage in areas already damaged by the January 1 earthquake, which killed at least 374 people.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported “unprecedented heavy rains,” with more than 540 mm falling between Saturday and Sunday in Wajima, the heaviest continuous rainfall since records began in 1976.

Local authorities in Ishikawa Prefecture had called on some 110,000 people to evacuate, while the JMA had issued a maximum emergency alert for the region.

In addition to flooded buildings, numerous landslides have blocked roads. 6,200 homes have been left without electricity and at least 1,700 homes have no running water. The army has been called in to help.

Rainfall levels in Japan have hit record highs in recent years in several parts of the country, leading to floods and landslides that have sometimes been deadly. Experts say climate change is making these events more frequent, intense and unpredictable.