You don't say: A security guard stands near signs warning of street closures due to flooding in the city of Tottori on Thursday. Heavy downpours in Tottori and neighboring prefectures caused widespread flooding and mudslides. | KYODO

Heavy rains soak Hokuriku; one dead in Niigata

NIIGATA/TOTTORI – A 61-year-old man died when his home on the Sea of Japan coast collapsed in a mudslide as heavy rain hit many parts of the nation Thursday.

According to police, Masatoshi Adachi’s home in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, was knocked down by mud sliding off the mountain behind his residence as 104.5 mm of rain fell in a 24-hour period, a record for the area in August. Responding to a neighbor’s call for assistance, police pulled Adachi from the mud but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

About 50 other residents took shelter in nearby facilities to escape mudslides, according to the city.

Also in Nagaoka, an 84-year-old woman suffered a minor foot injury after a mudslide hit her house.

In Tottori Prefecture, the rain-swollen Shiomi River flooded houses above the floorboards and some roads. The river rose 2.04 meters, exceeding the danger level at 6:40 a.m., prefectural officials said.

The city of Tottori issued an evacuation order to about 300 people in some 100 households. Heavy rain also triggered mudslides along a section of the JR Sanin Line, halting operations.

According to JR West, local trains services were disrupted between Aoya and Tomari stations, linking Tottori and Kurayoshi.

Weather radar data showed that 100 mm fell in one hour near Oda, Shimane Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast.

The Meteorological Agency called it “the most intense rainfall recorded in an hour.” The agency warned of further torrential rain in the prefecture.

At Tottori airport, a record 67 mm of rainfall was registered in the hour to 8:30 a.m., while Niigata’s Nagaoka was hit by a record 54 mm in an hour.

According to the weather agency, over 50 mm per hour of rain is also expected from the Tohoku region to Kyushu, with a chance of strong gusts, twisters and lightning.

The agency also predicts up to 120 mm of rainfall in the Kinki and Chugoku regions in the 24 hours to Friday morning.