Five million people in Japan have received an evacuation order due to the unprecedented rains hitting the south coast. CNN reports it. The threat of floods and landslides has been identified in over 20 prefectures. The maximum alert, level 5, affects more than one million people in the prefectures of Saga, Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Hiroshima, according to public broadcaster NHK. The second strongest warning, level 4, was issued to 17 other prefectures, affecting over 4 million residents. Some images posted on social media show residents walking in thigh-high water in flooded streets, carrying children and personal items. Firefighters and other rescuers rescued people who were stranded by loading them onto rubber boats. The level ofwater is still rising in several rivers that are likely to overflow. In some cities on the southern island of Kuyshu, more than 40 millimeters of water fell in an hour, but according to meteorologists, up to 250 millimeters could fall in the next 24 hours.
One person died and two others are believed to be missing due to torrential rains. The victim is a 59-year-old woman and the missing are two members of her family. According to a local official, the three were in one of the houses hit by a landslide in the town of Unzen, in the prefecture of Nagasaky. "Over 150 soldiers, policemen and firefighters have been sent to the scene for rescue operations," said the official, Takumi Kumasaki.
The wave of bad weather that hit Japan is also due to climate change, which increases the risk of torrential rains as a warmer atmosphere holds more water. "Unprecedented levels of heavy rain have been observed," Yushi Adachi, an official with the national meteorological agency, told reporters in Tokyo. "It is very likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred", he added, underlining that "maximum alert is needed even in areas where the risks of landslides and floods are usually not that high". Last month heavy rains caused a landslide in the tourist resort of Atami (center) which cost the lives of at least 23 people (another four are still missing).And in 2018, more than 200 people died as a result of the floods that hit western Japan during the annual rainy season.