Tokyo: Record-breaking rain forced the evacuation of thousands of people in parts of northern Japan as rivers burst their banks and washed away bridges and cars, officials and media said on Friday.
At least one person has died and four are missing after downpours in Yamagata and Akita prefectures on the main island of Honshu.
A 60-year-old man was missing after a landslide during road works in Yuzawa City, while an 86-year-old man was missing after he was last seen on a riverbank in Akita City, police told AFP.
One body was found in Akita City, media reported.
A local official told AFP in Yamagata, where two rivers overflowed their banks, that “three people, including two policemen who were on a mission to find the missing man, are missing”.
Two parts of Yamagata prefecture recorded the most rainfall in 24 hours since records began in 1976, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on Friday.
Shinjo recorded 389 millimeters (15 in) and Sakata 289 millimeters.
The footage showed several vehicles including a police car being swept away by the raging brown waters.
Authorities issued an evacuation advisory for more than 200,000 people, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
At least 4,000 people were evacuated to shelters, public broadcaster NHK said.
About 3,060 households were without electricity, 1,100 had no running water.
Some highways were closed in the area and Shinkansen trains were suspended, government spokesman Yoshimasa Hajashi told reporters.
The army has been sent to Yamagata to join the rescue activities being carried out by police and fire officials, he said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued the highest emergency alert for heavy rain for Sakata and Yuzu in Yamagata Prefecture this week.
It later downgraded the warning by one level on the country’s five-level warning system, but urged the public to remain alert for potential landslides and flooding. The JMA predicts that 100 to 200 millimeters of rainfall per day will continue for the next three days.
