Heavy Rain Leaves 1 Dead, at least 10 Missing in Quake-Stricken Ishikawa Pref.; Landslides Isolate Several Small Communities (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:11 JST, September 22, 2024 (updated at 15:45 JST)

KANAZAWA — One person has died and at least 10 have been declared missing or unaccounted for in areas affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake as record-breaking rain hit the Hokuriku region from Saturday to Sunday. The victims include workers involved in restoration work.

A man in his 70s from Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, died after being swept away in a landslide, the prefectural government said.

Three people went missing after being swept away by rivers in Noto, Wajima and Suzu.

According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, three workers involved in restoration work on the Nakaya Tunnel, which was damaged by the Jan. 1 earthquake, and a traffic control worker are unaccounted for after landslides occurred at several locations on National Highway 249 in Wajima. Members of the Self-Defense Forces and others continued their search.

Four people also went missing after two houses and a vehicle were swept away by Tsukada River in Wajima, according to local emergency services. The four missing people are believed to be a third-year female junior high school student, an 80-year-old man and his brother, and a 68-year-old woman.

Sixteen rivers in the prefecture flooded, and eight temporary housing sites, including one still under construction, were inundated in Wajima and Suzu. Many other houses were also flooded.

Landslides also occurred in various places, cutting off access to at least four communities in Suzu, two in Noto and several in Wajima.

Roads were also flooded in several places, and an emergency call was made to a fire station that a man was swept away in his vehicle in Wajima. The man was found outside the car, grasping a nearby tree and a utility pole, before being saved by a rescue team in a boat.

The man is said to have been driving when his car was caught in the water of a swollen river. He said it was hard for him to distinguish the muddy brown river from the road at the time.

Because of the heavy rain, some of the Shiroyone Senmaida rice terraces, a nationally recognized scenic spot in Wajima, also collapsed.

The Japan Meteorological Agency had issued a special heavy rain warning for the prefecture but scaled it down to a warning on Sunday.