TOKYO, July 1, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Heavy rains across parts of Japan have left
one person dead and at least one missing, authorities said Saturday, as they
issued evacuation warnings for nearly two million residents.

The country's weather agency has warned of potential landslides, flooding and
other disasters in western, central and eastern Japan, as a seasonal rain
front triggered strong downpours.

In Yamaguchi prefecture, "a man was found dead" inside a car that had been
washed into a river, a local police official told AFP.

And rescue workers in western Oita prefecture's Yufu were "still trying to
make contact" with a 70-year-old man who lived in a home destroyed by a
landslide, a city official said.

Non-compulsory evacuation orders were issued to about 1,855,000 residents in
eight prefectures of western Japan including Oita and Yamaguchi, the Fire and
Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.

Scientists say climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain in Japan
and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

Strong rains in 2021 triggered a devastating landslide in the central resort
town of Atami that killed 27 people.

And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western
Japan during the country's annual rainy season.