Heavy Rain Hits Wide Areas of Japan

Tokyo, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)–Heavy rain struck areas stretching from the Tokai central region to the Chugoku and Shikoku western regions of Japan on Wednesday due to a weather front and a low-pressure system along it. The Japan Meteorological Agency urged people in affected areas to remain on high alert for landslides, flooding of low-lying areas and swollen rivers as well as lightning strikes and wind gusts. The highest Level 5 emergency overflow warning issued for the Shonai River, which flows through Aichi and Gifu prefectures in central Japan, at 6:20 p.m. Tuesday was lifted at 12:40 a.m. Wednesday. In Aichi, 21 people in Nagoya, the prefectural capital, and two people in the city of Kitanagoya were slightly injured as of noon. Two houses were partially damaged, while 45 houses were flooded above floor level and another 45 flooded below. In Nagoya, about 200 vehicles were inundated and unable to move. Nagoya’s Chikusa Ward recorded 219.5 millimeters of rainfall in the 24 hours to 1:20 a.m. Wednesday. Aoi Ward of the city of Shizuoka, the capital of the namesake prefecture, logged 267.0 millimeters in the 24 hours to 11:00 a.m. The Gifu city of Gero saw 213.0 millimeters in the 24 hours to 4:10 p.m. The weather front is expected to move southward off the Pacific coast of eastern and western Japan on Thursday. In some parts of Tokai and the Kanto-Koshin eastern to central region, 24-hour rainfall through 6 p.m. Thursday is forecast to reach as high as 100 millimeters. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]