Tokyo, Sep 8 — Torrential rain lashed central Japan on Tuesday, leading to flooding in some areas and prompting an emergency flood warning for a major river in the region.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a Level 5 emergency warning for flooding of the Shonai River, which runs through Gifu and Aichi prefectures, the highest level alert on the agency's scale of one to five for flooding.
Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture logged 104.5 mm of rain in the one hour ending at around 4:50 p.m. local time, the highest hourly rainfall ever recorded in the city since record-keeping began, according to the JMA.
As of 7 p.m. local time, about 1,600 people had taken refuge at evacuation shelters, according to the city government, Xinhua news agency reported. All subway services operated by the city, as well as other local train services, were suspended, affecting many commuters.
Weather officials said torrential rain could continue in many parts of the country over the next few days, urging people to remain on high alert for landslides, overflowing rivers and flooding in low-lying areas.
A total of 3,661 schools were closed in 11 prefectures across Japan on Monday due to heavy rain, according to the education ministry.
As heavy rain lashed eastern Japan and elsewhere from the early hours of Monday, schools, including elementary, junior high and high schools as well as universities, were closed, with Chiba reporting the largest number of school closures at 894, followed by Tokyo with 739, Kanagawa with 646, Fukushima with 454 and Tochigi with 358, the ministry said.
Train suspensions caused by heavy rain affected more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo metropolitan area, railway operators said.
Major lines in Tokyo operated with services reduced by around 20 to 30 per cent from normal levels on Monday morning.
A woman in her 60s was declared dead after being found unresponsive in a submerged car at an underpass in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, according to the local fire department.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued Level 5 emergency landslide warnings for Niijima Village, Oshima Town and Toshima Village in the Izu Island chain south of Tokyo, the highest level of alert on the agency's scale of 1 to 5.
The JMA also issued a level 4 landslide alert for parts of Chiba and Saitama prefectures, neighboring the capital.
Weather officials said heavy rain is expected through around Thursday, mainly along the Pacific coast from western to eastern Japan.