Culture

PHOTOS: Heavy Rains Hit Northern Japan

Tens of thousands of people in at least nine prefectures were asked to evacuate due to threat of flooding, mudslides and infrastructure damage.

Published

2 years ago

August 9, 2022

Arielle Busetto

Heavy rains hit northern Japan in the first week of August, particularly August 4 and 5, causing widespread property damage and evacuations. The severe weather affected several prefectures: Shiga, Gifu, Ishikawa, Fukui, Niigata, Fukushima, Yamagata, Akita, Iwate, and Aomori.

In Fukui Prefecture the heavy rain caused rivers to overflow and cut off or reduced the water and electricity supply to several areas. One major rail bridge also collapsed.

As of August 4 more than 100,000 people across five prefectures were issued orders to evacuate their homes.

In Fukui, hundreds of people were trapped in their homes due to a river flooding and had to be rescued by the Japan Self-Defense Force.

The Tsugaru line in Aomori and the Yonesaka Line in Yamagata saw some operations interrupted due to infrastructure damage.

Murakami City in Niigata Prefecture saw floods, which caused vast damage to property, with rubble on the street and trees toppled over from the rush of water. Some houses were flooded with muddy water.

The rain is now moving North, and heavy rain is expected in Hokkaido from August 10 for about a week, as well as Northeastern Japan and Niigata.

The Japan Meteorological Agency is urging the population to be mindful of thunderstorms, heavy rain, strong wind, flooding and mudslides. As of this writing several areas in Aomori, among others, are still under landslide warning.