Floods in Japan: more than a million people called to leave their homes – franceinfo

Alert in Japan. More than a million people have been asked to evacuate their homes after record rains that caused floods and landslides in western Japan on Saturday, August 14. Authorities in the department of Hiroshima and northern Kyushu Island have issued the highest level of alert to be evacuated.

The Japanese meteorological agency JMA reported unprecedented levels of rain in this region. Television footage shows people rescued from lifeboats on the submerged streets of Kurume town (Fukuoka prefecture), as a muddy current begins to overflow in nearby Saga prefecture.

A 59-year-old woman has died and two members of her family are missing in Unzen, in the southwest of the country, after two houses were buried in a landslide, according to a local official, Takumi Kumasaki. “More than 150 soldiers, police and firefighters were sent to help with relief operations, he explained. They are looking for the missing, while monitoring possible landslides as heavy rains continue to fall. “

Scientists say global climate change is causing a warmer atmosphere to hold more water, increasing the risk and intensity of extreme precipitation.

In early July, heavy rains caused a devastating mudslide in the resort town of Atami, about 100 kilometers west of Tokyo, which left 23 people dead and four missing. In July 2020, record flooding in southwestern Japan left more than 80 dead and missing.