TOKYO, Japan: On August 8, relentless downpours lashed Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, triggering floods and landslides that drove residents into emergency shelters as authorities issued the area’s highest-level climate alerts.
In Aira metropolis, Kagoshima prefecture, a mudslide struck a house, burying two individuals who have been later rescued alive and brought to the hospital, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported. Officials ordered evacuation advisories for greater than 360,000 residents throughout Kagoshima and neighboring Miyazaki prefecture.
Television footage confirmed swollen rivers churning with muddy water, whereas in Kirishima metropolis, floodwaters rose to knee peak inside a shopping center. The downpour crippled native transport, suspending trains and buses and grounding dozens of flights to and from Kagoshima.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s authorities rapidly shaped an emergency process power to coordinate aid efforts. “The government will do everything to protect your life and safety,” Ishiba pledged.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned that the low-pressure system driving the storms would proceed to carry heavy rain and thunderstorms to Kyushu all through the day. JMA official Shuichi Tachihara, talking at a nationally televised news convention, cautioned that the chance of catastrophe was rising and urged residents to take early precautions.