Muddy stream from the Tadamigawa River overflow after heavy rain in Yanaizu, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 30, 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO - HEAVY rains claimed their first victim in Japan on Saturday and others were missing as floods saw nearly half a million people being urged to leave the central Niigata region and tsunami-hit Fukushima.
River banks gave way to swollen rivers at several points and the meteorological agency warned that the rains could continue to be torrential, reaching 50mm per hour by midday.
The agency urged citizens to be on the maximum alert against more flooding and mudslides as television footage showed muddy swollen rivers, broken dykes and flooded houses.
Bridges over the Shinano River in Niigata disappeared into muddy water in the middle, while trees and telephone polls were seen fallen. Tens of cars were seen stranded on a road along the Shinano. Local governments in Niigata and Fukushima prefectures have advised a total of 417,000 people to evacuate, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Helicopter footage on NHK showed that Kamo City in Niigata, 250km north of Tokyo, were extensively flooded, with water submerging roads and rice fields. Eiichi Murayama, 67, was confirmed dead in Tokamachi City, Niigata, early on Saturday.
Four other people are missing in the area, including a 93-year-old woman who was swept away in a river and a 25-year-old man who was believed to have fallen into a swollen river, police said. -- AFP
