Six people have been killed and 10 others are missing after
record rainfall caused floods and landslides in parts of Japan's Ishikawa
prefecture.
The cities of Wajima and Suzu, which are still recovering
from a deadly earthquake that devastated the area on 1 January, are among the
hardest hit by the deluge, which began on Saturday and continued until noon
local time (03:00 GMT) on Monday.
On Sunday, both cities saw twice the amount of rainfall they
typically receive in September in an average year, local media reported.
Dozens of rivers burst their banks, cutting off roads and
isolating more than 100 communities across the prefecture, the reports added.
Two of the people who died were found near a landslide-hit
tunnel in Wajima. One of them was a construction worker carrying out road
repairs.
Two elderly men and an elderly woman were among the other
fatalities, the Japan Times said citing local authorities.
Japan's meteorological agency issued its highest
"life-threatening" alert level for Ishikawa on Saturday and
downgraded it to a regular warning on Sunday. However, authorities have called
for continued vigilance as the torrential rain was likely to continue until at
least noon on Monday.
The floodwaters inundated temporary housing built for people
who had lost their homes in the New Year's Day earthquake. Footage aired by NHK
showed an entire street in Wajima submerged under water.
The region is still recovering from the powerful 7.5
magnitude earthquake in January which killed at least 236 people, toppled
buildings and sparked a major fire.
Some 4,000 households were left without power on Monday,
according to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company.
More than 40,000 residents across four cities in Ishikawa -
including Wajima, Suzu and the town of Noto - have been evacuated over the
weekend.
Another 16,000 residents in the Niigata and Yamagata
prefectures north of Ishikawa were also told to evacuate, the AFP news agency
said.