Japan downgrades heavy rain emergency warning in Ishikawa prefecture

TOKYO, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — Japan’s weather agency on Sunday morning downgraded its heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Ishikawa Prefecture to a warning, but authorities called for continued vigilance against possible floods and landslides.
The emergency warning issued on Saturday, the highest level of alert on the agency’s scale of one to five, covered the cities of Wajima, Suzu and the town of Noto in the central Japanese prefecture.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Wajima saw a record 497.5 mm of rain since Friday evening through 8:40 a.m. local time on Sunday, while Suzu saw 385.5 mm. About 45,000 residents in the affected areas had been ordered to evacuate.
One person died and ten people are missing in Ishikawa Prefecture, public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday, citing prefectural officials.
One person was confirmed dead in Suzu. One person each was reported missing in Suzu, Wajima and Noto, while three workers involved in recovery efforts of a collapsed national road in Wajima were also missing. In addition, four residents remained unaccounted for after the Tsukada River flooded in Wajima, the report said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the government’s top spokesman, told reporters on Saturday that the amount of rain in these cities and towns was unprecedented, and multiple rivers have overflowed their banks and there have been many cases of buildings being flooded. ■