Japan flooding kills at least 60 people - 550,000 told to evacuate - 4 inches of rain in an hour (UPDATES)

Ron Brackett
The Weather Channel
Sun, 05 Jul 2020 19:18 UTC

Meteorologist Heather Tesch says the death toll is expected to rise after flooding in Japan.

Flooding and landslides caused by unprecedented rain in southern Japan have left at least 35 people confirmed or presumed dead.

Standing water and risk of more mudslides delayed rescue operations on Sunday, according to the Japan Times.

The victims include 14 residents of a nursing home that was flooded when a river overflowed its banks. Another 50 residents and 30 caregivers were rescued by boats on Sunday.

More than a dozen people were missing, and more than 2,000 households remained cut off in eight municipalities in Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's southwestern Kyushu island, the Kyodo News agency reported.

The floodwaters cut off roads and washed away buildings. A Kyodo helicopter flew over an area where the words "rice, water, SOS" could be seen spelled out on the ground.

More than 4,650 homes in Kumamoto prefecture remained without power on Sunday afternoon, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co.

Rescuers search for missing people at the site of a mudslide caused by heavy rain in Natsugi town in Kumamoto prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Sunday, July 5, 2020.

Narumi Kawano, 78, who lived with her 75-year-old disabled husband in Kuma, told the Japan Times floodwaters rose up to their necks on the second floor of their home. They dove out a window into the water to escape.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said such rainfall had never been seen before in the region. As much as 4 inches an hour fell at one time.

The heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday in Kumamoto totaled nearly 20 inches in Minamata and nearly 16 inches in Kuma, Yunomae and Amakusa, according to the Meteorological Agency.

© Koji Harada/Kyodo News

A couple walks in front of houses damaged by flooding in Kuma village, Kumamoto prefecture, southwestern Japan, Sunday, July 5, 2020.

"The torrential rainfall this week was caused by a stationary, but normal frontal boundary known as the Mei-yu (or Baiu) front, which pulls moisture northeastward across eastern Asia, including Japan, from the Indian monsoon," according to weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles. "This front occurs each June and July in southern Japan and is known to bring heavy rainfall and mudslides."

More than 200,000 residents in Kumamoto and neighboring Kagoshima prefecture were ordered to evacuate on Saturday.

More torrential rain is forecast in parts of western Japan through Tuesday.

Comment: Update: ARIRANG NEWS reports on July 7:

Torrential rain storms that triggered flash floods and mudslides in Japan's Kyushu region have left 60 people dead or missing.

Hundreds of thousands have also been evacuated to safer areas.

Lee Seung-jae reports.

Mother Nature's wrath continues to sweep Japan.

Torrential rain in the country's Kyushu region,... in southwestern Japan,... has triggered floods and mudslides.

Authorities say at least 49 people have been confirmed dead,... while eleven others are unaccounted for.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by continued downpours,... with up to 300 millimeters of rain in the forecast through Tuesday

Meteorological authorities in Japan have also issued special heavy rain warnings to three prefectures Nagasaki, Saga, and Fukuoka and the authorities have also issued evacuation orders to 330-thousand citizens.

Such orders have also been issued to 205-thousand people in Kumamoto Prefecture,... and to approximately 35-thousand in Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefecture,... totaling 550-thousand people across Japan.

With many waiting to be rescued,... the Japanese government has also dispatched around 10-thousand Ground Self-Defense Force personnel to the hardest-hit areas.

More than 2-thousand households have been left stranded,... many of which are home to elderly people.

Helicopters and boats have been rescuing people from their homes where they can.

The flooding has also cut off power and communication lines,... further delaying search and rescue efforts.

Update 08/07/2020: The Guardian reports:

At least 58 people have died over several days of flooding. By Wednesday morning, parts of Nagano and Gifu in central Japan were flooded by unremitting downpours.

Footage on NHK television showed swollen water in the Hida River gouging into the embankment, destroying a national highway along the river. In the city of Gero, river water rose to just below a bridge.

In the mountainous town of Takayama, several houses were hit by a mudslide, with uprooted trees and other debris scattered around. It was not immediately known what happened to the residents.

Across Japan, about 3.6m people were advised to evacuate, although evacuation is not mandatory and the number of people who actually took shelter was not provided by authorities.

© Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

A man walks by a collapsed road caused by heavy rain in Kuma, Kumamoto prefecture. Flooding and heavy rains have killed 58 people.

As of Wednesday morning, the death toll from the heavy rains that started over the weekend had risen to 58, most of them from the hardest-hit Kumamoto prefecture.