Nearly 200,000 people in western Japan were asked to evacuate on Saturday as authorities warned of landslides and floods as the leftovers of a tropical cyclone moved across the country.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported severe rainfall and thunderstorms across western Japan, attributed to Kong-rey, a typhoon that was downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system.
The city of Matsuyama “issued the top-level warning, urging 189,552 residents in its 10 districts to evacuate and immediately secure safety,” a city official told AFP.
While the evacuation was not required, Japan’s highest-level warning is normally given when it is highly likely that a tragedy has happened.
Forecasters predicted that landslides and floods will hit western Japan on Saturday and eastern Japan on Sunday.
Shinkansen bullet trains between Tokyo and the southern Fukuoka region were momentarily paused in the morning due to rain before resuming on a delayed timetable.
Kong-rey blasted into Taiwan on Thursday, one of the most powerful storms to pound the island in decades. It killed at least two people and cut electricity to tens of thousands of homes.
According to scientists, human-caused climate change increases the risk of heavy rainfall because a warmer atmosphere contains more water.