Tanveer Singh Kapoor, Pune
Torrential rain hit Southwestern Japan, resulting in floods and mudslides. Officials confirmed that two people have lost their lives, and at least six others were missing as of July 10, 2023.
The regions of Kyushu and Chūgoku experienced heavy rainfall at the weekend, causing flooding along many rivers, triggering mudslides, closing roads, disrupting trains, and cutting the water supply in some regions.
An emergency heavy rain warning was issued for Fukuoka and Oita prefectures on the southern main island of Kyushu. The residents were urged to take maximum caution. Over 1.7 million residents were urged to take shelter. The warning was downgraded later Monday to a regular warning by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural officials reported that two people are dead and at least six people are missing.
A man was found dead in his vehicle in Yamaguchi prefecture after it fell into a river. Two people were buried by a mudslide in the town of Soeda in Fukuoka prefecture. One was rescued alive, but the other died, said the prefectural officials.
In Kurume, Fukuoka, a mudslide hit seven houses, burying 21 people. Six managed to escape on their own. Rescue workers extracted nine people alive while working to remove five others. However, one remained missing, as per the disaster agency.
As a safety precaution, Toyota Motor Corp. suspended night-time production at three Fukuoka factories on Monday.
In the city of Karatsu in Saga prefecture, rescue workers were searching for three people whose houses were hit by the mudslide. A video on NHK public television showed one of the destroyed houses reduced to just a roof sitting on the muddy ground amid flowing floodwaters.
Approximately three people were missing in the other districts of the region.