TOKYO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) — Over 400 people remained evacuated in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture one month after record-breaking downpours caused floods and landslides in many parts of the Noto peninsula, local media reported Monday.
As of last Friday, 434 residents were living in shelters in the cities of Wajima and Suzu, and the town of Noto in the central Japan prefecture, including those who had moved to accommodation facilities for temporary stays in a practice called secondary evacuation, the public broadcaster NHK reported.
At least 1,487 houses were inundated, and the number could rise as the municipalities have not yet surveyed all the districts, the report said.
On Sept. 21, hourly rainfall hit record 121 millimeters in Wajima, while neighboring Suzu received 84.5 mm in an hour, also an all-time high. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a heavy rain emergency warning in Wajima, Suzu and Noto, all in the northern part of the peninsula, which had been heavily damaged by a major earthquake on New Year’s Day.
The record rainfall killed 14 people and left one person still missing, the report said.
