Between Friday and Saturday, heavy rains due to a tropical storm caused flooding and major damage in some areas of central and western Japan: at least one person died, two are missing, there are dozens injured and thousands of people have been evacuated, according to the first information released on Saturday morning by the local authorities. In several places, however, the situation has already returned under control.
The area with the highest alert levels is that of the city of Toyohashi, in the province of Aichi, in central Japan: this is where a man of around 60 was found dead in his car submerged in water. In the western province of Wakayama, where several rivers are flooded, searches are underway for two missing people. Among the most affected areas there is also that of the capital Tokyo and the nearby city of Koshigaya. A few thousand people in that area were left without electricity for several hours, but problems were solved almost everywhere. The national meteorological agency has issued an alert for possible landslides and river flooding in areas around Tokyo, where in the meantime much of the railway service has been suspended.