Floods and landslides claimed one life and left at least 11 people missing in central Japan, as recovery teams worked on Sunday in a remote peninsula that had already been ravaged by a major earthquake earlier this year. "Unprecedented" heavy rains that pounded the area from Saturday began to ease, leaving behind scenes of mud and destruction. The national weather agency warned residents to remain vigilant for loose ground and other hazards.
In the city of Wajima, debris including splintered branches and a massive uprooted tree accumulated at a bridge over a river, where the turbulent brown waters nearly reached ground level. People were seen wading through the mud, attempting to dig out half-buried cars, while floodwaters inundated emergency housing constructed for those who lost their homes in the New Year's Day earthquake that claimed at least 318 lives.
Akemi Yamashita, a 54-year-old resident, recounted to AFP her harrowing experience driving on Saturday when "within just 30 minutes, water surged into the street and rose to half the height of my car". She added, "I was talking to other residents of Wajima yesterday, and they said, 'it's so heart-breaking to live in this city'. I got teary when I heard that," describing the earthquake and floods as "like something from a movie".
Eight temporary housing complexes in Wajima and Suzu, two cities on the Noto Peninsula devastated by the magnitude-7.5 quake, were affected. The quake had toppled buildings, triggered tsunami waves, and sparked a major fire. Over 540 millimeters of rainfall was recorded in Wajima in the 72 hours leading up to Sunday morning—the heaviest continuous rain since comparative data became available in 1976.
Landslides blocked roads, complicating rescue efforts, and tens of thousands of people in the wider region were urged to evacuate. Muddy rivers ran high in Anamizu, south of Wajima, where more rain fell on Sunday morning onto quake-damaged houses and the shattered stone columns of a shrine still lying on the ground months after they were toppled.
A message from the city's loudspeaker disaster prevention system warned residents that the rain could flood the sewer system, potentially causing dirty water to rise. Hideaki Sato, 74, stood on a bridge holding a blue umbrella, anxiously watching the swollen water in a small canal. "My house was flattened completely in the quake," he told AFP. "I now live in a small apartment room right there," he said, pointing at a wooden structure behind him. "If this floods, it would be a real problem."
Military personnel were dispatched to the Ishikawa region on the Sea of Japan coast to assist rescue workers, according to top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi. Some 5,000 households were without power and at least 1,700 households were without running water, the Ishikawa regional government reported. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) downgraded its top warning to the second-highest alert on Sunday.
The areas under the emergency warning experienced "heavy rain of unprecedented levels," JMA forecaster Satoshi Sugimoto said on Saturday, emphasizing "it is a situation in which you have to secure your safety immediately". Scientists attribute the intensified risk posed by heavy rains to human-driven climate change, as a warmer atmosphere holds more water.
By Sunday afternoon, one person had been killed, eight were missing or unaccounted for, and one was seriously injured in Ishikawa, the regional government said. At least a dozen rivers burst their banks, and two of the missing were reportedly swept away by strong currents. Three other people were missing, having been working for the land ministry to restore a road in Wajima, according to local ministry official Yoshiyuki Tokuhashi.
Municipalities in Ishikawa instructed 110,000 residents in the region—including those in the cities of Wajima and Suzu, as well as Noto town—to evacuate, officials said. An additional 17,300 residents were also told to evacuate in Niigata and Yamagata prefectures, north of Ishikawa, the fire and disaster management agency reported.
