Torrential downpours in Japan’s central Ishikawa Prefecture have caused river flooding and mudslides across the Noto region. Six people are dead and two are reported missing.
The local police and fire department said about ten people were found near a tunnel in Wajima City, but two of them were confirmed dead. Reconstruction of damage stemming from the New Year’s Day earthquake was underway near the tunnel, but a landslide occurred on Saturday.
In Wajima, two women who died were found in a house where landslides flowed in and rice paddies. A man who was pulled from a river was also confirmed dead.
Officials in Ishikawa say one person was confirmed dead in Suzu. They say the person died after their home was engulfed by a landslide.
Two people who were swept away in rivers in Noto Town and Suzu City are missing.
Meanwhile, the police and fire department say four houses in Wajima located along rivers have been swept away. They also say four other residents are unaccounted for.
The Ishikawa prefectural government has made public the names of eight people in Wajima and Suzu, aged between 14 and 89, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Nearly 500 millimeters of rain was recorded in the city of Wajima from Friday evening to 10 p.m. Sunday. Nearly 400 millimeters was observed in Suzu City. Both figures are more than double the average rainfall for September and are also the highest since the agency began keeping records.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency has changed its heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Ishikawa to a warning. But it is still urging people to stay alert for possible floods and landslides in the prefecture.