One dead, 7 missing and 60,000 evacuated in Japan after torrential rains – rts.ch

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the highest alert level for heavy rain in several cities in Ishikawa Prefecture, which includes the hard-hit cities of Suzu and Wajima. Rainfall in Noto reached more than 120 millimeters per hour.

In Suzu, one person died and another is missing after being swept away by floodwaters. Authorities in the Ishikawa region said seven people are also missing. They include four workers who were swept away by a landslide while working on a road in Wajima.

The cities of Wajima and Suzu were among the hardest hit by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake on January 1, which killed at least 236 people in central Japan. The region is still recovering from the disaster, which flattened buildings, destroyed roads and caused a major fire. Some dikes have also been weakened.

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Evacuations

Separately, some 44,700 residents of several towns in Ishikawa Prefecture were forced to leave the area, local officials said, and another 16,700 were asked to evacuate the prefectures of Niigata and Yamagata, north of Ishikawa, according to the fire and disaster management agency.

As of 11:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. in Switzerland), flooding had been confirmed on around ten rivers in the region, said Masaru Kojima of the Ministry of Territories.

Floods and landslides

Three of them overflowed and the floods reached nearby towns, an official said, adding that the damage to buildings and infrastructure was being assessed.

According to the Ishikawa government, many buildings have been flooded and landslides have blocked some roads. Some 6,000 homes are without power.

afp/juma