Communities across Japan's Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture were plunged into mourning on Monday as unprecedented torrential downpours unleashed catastrophic flash floods and landslides, claiming at least six lives and leaving more than ten people unaccounted for in a region still reeling from a massive New Year's Day earthquake.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its highest-level emergency heavy rain warnings after Wajima recorded more than 540 millimeters of rain over a 72-hour period—the heaviest precipitation observed since meteorological records began in the region.
Double Disaster Devastates Earthquake Survivors
Surging brown floodwaters tore through riverbanks, inundating hundreds of residential buildings and sweeping through temporary prefabricated housing villages erected just months ago for residents displaced by the January 1 magnitude 7.6 earthquake.
In Wajima, a swollen river submerged emergency housing units, forcing elderly residents onto rooftops as mud-laden water reached second-story windows. Mudslides also destroyed four reconstruction workers' temporary dormitories near tunnel repair sites in the mountains.
“This compound disaster is heartbreaking beyond words. The ground was already fragile from the earthquake, and this historic deluge triggered widespread slope collapses.”
Emergency Rescue Operations Amid Severed Mountain Roads
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered the mobilization of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), coast guard vessels, and specialized search-and-rescue teams equipped with heavy earth-moving equipment and sniffer dogs to reach isolated settlements cut off by severed highways.
With over 115 villages temporarily isolated by landslides and clean water supplies compromised, government authorities established emergency shelters while meteorologists warned of lingering landslide hazards as terrain remains completely saturated.
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