At least six people have died and two others are still missing due to floods and landslides in central Japan in the past 48 hours, Japanese media reported, citing local authorities.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK and other media reported six dead; a first-aid official said of "one dead and five people in cardiac arrest" after torrential rains in Ishikawa prefecture, already heavily damaged and in mourning when it was hit by a strong earthquake on New Year's Day.
The terminology the official used is common in Japan when it comes to people whose death remains to be determined by a medical examiner.
Two missing road construction workers have been found dead in a landslide, while dozens of their colleagues narrowly escaped sheltering in an underground tunnel, Japanese media reported.
In Uajima, a coastal town in Ishikawa prefecture, houses were flooded and authorities pulled a man's body from a river.
In Suzhou, a city in the same region, a man was found dead in the debris of his house, which was crushed by a landslide.
Two people are still missing.
Over the weekend, dozens of rivers and streams overflowed, again causing damage in areas already hit by the 7,5-magnitude earthquake on January 1, which left at least 374 dead.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has spoken of "torrential rains of an unprecedented scale": rainfall exceeded 540mm over the weekend in Uajima. The rainfall was among the heaviest since records began there in 1976.
Local authorities in Ishikawa prefecture, which is washed by the Sea of Japan, urged some 110.000 residents to evacuate their homes immediately, while the Japan Meteorological Agency put the region on maximum alert.
In addition to flooded buildings, roads were cut off by landslides and about 6.200 households lost power — and some water — according to local authorities.
The dramatic flooding affected many residences, as well as eight shelters for earthquake victims in the cities of Uajima and Suzu, where many of those who lost their homes when the New Year's earthquake struck.
The military was called to participate in search, rescue and relief operations in the provincial area, along the Sea of Japan.
Rainfall levels in Japan have been breaking records in recent years, causing floods and landslides, in some cases claiming lives.
Experts point out that climate change is intensifying the frequency, severity and unpredictable nature of these phenomena.
Source: protothema.gr
