3 days ago
Heavy rain emergency warning issued for Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture
The Meteorological Agency issued a heavy rain emergency warning for the city of Kirishima in Kagoshima Prefecture on Friday morning, calling for the highest level of caution against landslides and river flooding.
Local authorities issued the highest-level warning on the country's five-tier disaster alert system for the city and some other parts of Kagoshima.
A linear precipitation zone, or a band of cumulonimbus clouds that causes massive rainfall, occurred intermittently in the prefecture.
"We hope people will be on alert because the risk of disaster is expected to remain high," Shuichi Tachihara, director of the meteorological agency's Forecast Division, said at a press conference.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, speaking to reporters, said, "We'll take all possible measures to protect the safety of lives."
In Mizobe, Kirishima, 107.5 millimeters of heavy rain was recorded in an hour until 3 a.m., and rainfall over 12 hours until 4:50 a.m. reached 483 mm, a record for the area. Makinohara, also in Kirishima, had record rainfall of 495 mm over 12 hours until 6:10 a.m.
The risk of flooding in the city's Amori River increased temporarily.
