THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 16, 2023 at 13:02 JST
The swollen Babamegawa river in Gojome, Akita Prefecture, as of 6 p.m. July 15 (From a website in Akita Prefecture)
GOJOME, Akita Prefecture--A man was found dead inside a submerged car here July 16, marking the first confirmed death related to unprecedented rainfall that engulfed Akita Prefecture.
Heavy rain was expected to continue in the northeastern prefecture and other parts of the Tohoku region for the rest of the day as a rain front remains stalled.
Police in the town of Gojome received a call from the man around 7:30 p.m. on July 15 that his car was inundated and could not move.
Firefighters were unable to locate the vehicle and only discovered the car in a rice paddy near the Babamegawa river the following morning.
The Babamegawa and other rivers flooded 331 homes in Gojome. Boats were used to rescue residents on July 15.
As of 5 p.m. on July 15, town authorities had issued the highest-level evacuation alert to 2,996 residents from 1,416 households.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said 244 millimeters of rain fell in the city of Oga and 226 mm in the town of Happo, both in Akita Prefecture, in the 24 hours through the afternoon of July 15.
Both figures were the largest on record and exceeded average rainfall in the two municipalities for the entire month of July.
Services remain halted on the Akita Shinkansen Line and on some sections of the JR Ou and Uetsu lines.
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