July 3, 2023, 10:50 AM
July 3, 2023, 10:50 AM
He southern japan continued on alert this Monday due to torrential rains that have caused flooding and collapsed infrastructure, and led local authorities to recommend the evacuation of more than a million people.
The rains, which have been affecting the south and west of the archipelago since last Friday, intensified last night in the southwest, especially in the Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures, where at 5:00 p.m. local time (8:00 GMT ) as of today continued active recommendations for evacuation for nearly half a million people in both territories.
In Fukuoka, Oita and Miyazaki, more than 80,000 other residents, especially the elderly, were urged to seek shelter in the public emergency shelters given the risk of river overflows and wet landslides.
In the town of Yamato, in Kumamoto, where more than 570 millimeters of rain have already accumulated, more than the average for an entire month of normal July, a bridge collapsed due to the storm, adding to similar damage caused in areas of the west of the country in previous days, including the tracks of the JR Mine line, in Yamaguchi.
It is in that prefecture where the only confirmed fatality has been recorded so far, a man whose car fell into a ditch. There are also two missing due to the storm, of which no serious injuries have been reported.
The rains have caused landslides which have blocked local roads and flooded homes and buildings located mainly in the vicinity of swollen rivers.
In the city of Mashiki, also in Kumamoto, the authorities reported the overflow of rivers Kiyama and Iwato, which run through the town, and a local Buddhist temple collapsed, causing no injuries, among other incidents.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) expects the rains to continue in the coming hours and has urged the population to remain alert to the associated risks.
