Level 5 Heavy Rain Warnings Briefly Issued for 3 Fukui Cities

Tokyo, Aug. 30 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Meteorological Agency issued Level 5 emergency rain warnings for the cities of Fukui, Ono and Katsuyama in the central Japan prefecture of Fukui on Sunday, before later downgrading them. Level 5 is the highest on the agency’s disaster alert scale. After the warnings were issued at 4:30 a.m., the three cities urged residents to take immediate action to protect their lives. The rain weakened later in the morning, and at 11:40 a.m. the agency downgraded the warnings to Level 4. However, it continued to urge residents to remain on high alert for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and overflowing rivers. The prefecture’s Reihoku region, which includes the three cities, experienced intermittent torrential rainfall due to the influence of a weather front. The Fukui prefectural government established a disaster response headquarters on Sunday. Multiple rivers overflowed and authorities confirmed flooding above floor level in one residence and below floor level in four residences in Ono and Katsuyama. A landslide was also reported in the city of Fukui. However, as of 8 a.m., no casualties or injuries had been confirmed. According to the prefectural police, as of 6 a.m., they had received 25 reports concerning stranded vehicles, flooded roads and related incidents. At a press conference in the early hours of Sunday, Takuya Hosomi, director of the meteorological agency’s Forecast Division, explained that a weather front extending from the Sea of Japan toward Fukui Prefecture had been fed by warm, moist air flowing northward around the edge of a high-pressure system over the Pacific Ocean, causing thunderclouds to develop. Hosomi noted that the situation was similar to the one that prompted Level 5 emergency rain warnings in five municipalities in Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures in central Japan on Thursday. However, he emphasized that, rather than extremely intense downpours occurring within a short period, very heavy rain of 50 to 60 millimeters per hour continued intermittently for a long time from Saturday night. Kazuhito Shimamoto, director of the land ministry’s River Environment Division, warned against approaching rivers, irrigation canals or flooded roads under any circumstances. The 24-hour rainfall reached 350.5 millimeters in Katsuyama through 9:10 a.m., 318 millimeters in the Miyama area of the city of Fukui through 11 a.m. and 281 millimeters in Ono through 11:20 a.m., all setting new record highs since observations began. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]