At least two people were feared dead yesterday after landslides triggered by heavy rains hit the central Japanese city of Atami, where about 20 people were still missing, public broadcaster NHK said.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who convened an emergency task force to tackle the crisis, asked people in the affected areas to remain on alert.
“There may be more heavy rainfalls and we need to be taking the highest caution,” he said in televised remarks.
The floods are a reminder of the natural disasters – including earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunami – that plague Japan, where the capital Tokyo is to host the summer Olympics this month.
NHK aired footage of collapsed and half-submerged houses as water dashed the city with mud and debris.
Social media images showed partially submerged cars and rescue workers wading through waist-high water with a small life raft.
“I heard a horrible sound and saw a mudslide flowing downwards as rescue workers were urging people to evacuate. So I ran to higher ground,” the head of a temple near the disaster told public broadcaster NHK. “When I returned, houses and cars that were in front of the temple were gone.”
Japan’s military sent emergency rescue teams to the city, where about 80 people have been evacuated, NHK said.
Some 2,830 households in the area face power outages, it said, citing the Tokyo Electric Power.
Atami saw rainfall of 313mm in just 48 hours – higher than the average monthly total for July of 242.5mm, according to NHK.
“Because of the heavy rain, the ground loosened and the mudslide occurred ... it picked up speed and swept away houses together with people,” Shizuoka Governor Heita Kawakatsu told reporters.
The disaster began around 10.30am at a river near the city, which is around 90km from Tokyo and is famous as a hot spring resort.
A video posted on TikTok from the scene showed a huge slurry of mud and debris sliding slowly down a steep road and nearly engulfing a white car, which managed to drive away just before a faster and more violent torrent arrived.
In other clips on social media, the landslide was seen toppling electricity poles, with large areas left inundated by several waves of earth.
Much of Japan is currently in its annual rainy season, which lasts several weeks and often causes floods and landslides, prompting local authorities to issue evacuation orders.
Scientists say climate change is intensifying the phenomenon because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, resulting in more intense rainfall.
More than 200 people died as devastating floods inundated western Japan in 2018.
The highest evacuation alert, which urges people “to secure safety urgently”, has been issued to Atami city which has more than 20,000 households, according to NHK.
Residents in many other cities in Shizuoka have also been ordered to evacuate.
Shinkansen bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka were temporarily stopped due to the heavy rain, while other local trains in rain-affected areas were also halted, rail company websites said.