FUKUI - Record rainfall caused 19 rivers to overflow across Fukui Prefecture, flooding roads and homes, triggering landslides and temporarily forcing authorities to issue the highest-level heavy rain emergency warning from early Sunday morning.
A stationary front over the Hokuriku region brought intense rain to Fukui, where Level 5 heavy rain emergency warnings were issued for Fukui City, Ono and Katsuyama at 4:30 a.m. on August 30.
The emergency warnings were lifted at 11:40 a.m., but rainfall totals from the start of the downpour on the night of August 28 through 4 p.m. on August 30 reached 376.5 millimeters in Katsuyama, 343.5 millimeters in Miyama in Fukui City and 341 millimeters in Harue, Sakai.
The totals exceeded the average rainfall for the entire month of August in several areas.
One resident described the rain as "pounding down," adding, "We had been saying how terrible the rain was in Toyama and Ishikawa, but then it suddenly became our problem too."
Another resident said, "I've lived here for 15 years and have never seen this much rain. We've taken measures around the doors, and I just hope the damage does not get any worse."
Floodwaters covered sections of National Route 8 in Fukui City near a bridge over the Arakawa River, leaving several trucks and other vehicles surrounded by water deep enough to completely submerge their tires.
A total of 19 rivers overflowed across Fukui Prefecture as the record rainfall caused widespread road flooding, inundated homes and triggered landslides.
In Sakai, roads were flooded deeply enough to cover vehicle tires, while water overflowing from roadside drainage channels inundated an intersection in Katsuyama.
Fukui Airport was also affected, with areas surrounding the runway flooded and the airport rendered unusable.
Two people were injured in the prefecture. In Sakai, a woman in her 30s fell into a roadside drainage ditch hidden by floodwater and suffered injuries including a broken leg.
Although the heaviest rain has passed, authorities are urging residents in the Reihoku region of Fukui Prefecture to remain on high alert for landslides through early Sunday night.
Source: TBS
