Tokyo, Sep 22 (IANS) Two people died, and four others remain missing in landslides that hit Japan’s Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, near Tokyo, on Monday, following heavy rain brought by a large typhoon, local media reported on Tuesday.
In Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, a woman in her 60s died after the house she lived in was struck by a landslide that sent mud flowing inside, reports Xinhua News Agency, quoting Kyodo News.
In Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, a man in his 50s who was working to clear mud and debris from a landslide died after falling into a bamboo grove with the heavy machinery he was operating, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Police and firefighters are continuing to search for the missing people.
Typhoon Dujuan, which approached Japan’s eastern Pacific coast on Monday and is now moving away, brought record rainfall to the Kanto region in eastern Japan and the Izu Islands, triggering a series of landslides and river flooding.
Rainfall in Oshima Town in the Izu Island chain over the 48 hours to 8 p.m. local time on Monday reached 832 mm, more than 2.4 times the town’s average rainfall for the entire month of September and the highest since records began, according to NHK. A top-level emergency warning for landslides was temporarily issued for the town on Monday.
Although sunny weather is expected across a wide swath of Japan on Tuesday, weather authorities are urging continued vigilance against landslides, as the ground remains saturated and unstable following the heavy rain.
Earlier in August, Typhoon Chan-hom made landfall in the eastern Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki.
Seven people sustained minor injuries — two in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, as well as four in Ibaraki Prefecture and one in Tochigi Prefecture, both near Tokyo, Jiji Press reported Wednesday, citing the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
–IANS
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