Days of heavy rain in southwest Japan have killed at least six people and caused damage. The search for three people continued in the prefectures of Saga and Oita on the southwestern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday, Japanese media reported. Meanwhile, residents began cleaning up. Rivers had burst their banks and landslides had occurred in several places. Houses were damaged. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of residents in the south-west of the island kingdom have been asked to get to safety. The government expresses “our heartfelt condolences to those affected by the accident”.
Heavy rain in the region for days on Monday caused rivers to burst their banks and triggered landslides. Several remote communities remained largely cut off from the outside world from the storm damage. Traffic on motorways and some train lines was interrupted on Tuesday morning, around 1,400 households were cut off from the power supply.
However, the safety of the residents is guaranteed, the authorities said. In Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, the military was deployed to rescue after a landslide that buried several houses.
According to the Japanese weather agency, it had been raining in the region for more than a week, and on Sunday evening the rains increased and hundreds of thousands of people were asked to evacuate. Despite the weather improvement on Tuesday, the authorities warned of further precipitation, which could further soak the already sodden ground.
It is currently rainy season in Japan. The mountainous regions of the country are particularly threatened by landslides. According to scientists, climate change is increasing the risk of extreme weather events such as heavy rain in Japan and other parts of the world.
