One dead, 3 missing as Japan warns of 'heaviest rain ever' in southwest

So much for me aspiring to move to the Onsen capital of Japan.

Never realized it was that bad down there.

Meanwhile in Kanto it's got crazy hot very suddenly. I got weather warnings all on my phone.

Seems it's climate change related.

Stay safe everyone. You

I lived in Oita in the early 90's and remember the fragility in stormy weather. One night electricity went out around 4 pm in a thunderstorm. All I had was a gas stove to make ramen and warming beer. Everything became absolutely pitch black during the night and I went to bed at 8 pm with nothing to do.

Is it the de-forestation and removal of deep roots, with no replacement to bind the soil that causes the landslides? Or is thia just natural?

Meanwhile in Kanto it's got crazy hot very suddenly. I got weather warnings all on my phone. 

Similar but different here in central Osaka. We just had a large thunderstorm here a few hours ago, and like a tropical thunderstorm, it was soon over. Not surprisingly, it’s much cooler here now.

It was heading toward Nara and Mie, so I hope not to see more bad news like this tomorrow morning.

Do what you can to stay out of harm’s way.

I remember back in the 70's the weather was so hot and no rain, we had water on one day and water off the next

oh my god, such a horrible view. but I hope Japanese government will surely do something to tackle this.

People have short memories. This basically happens every year for two or three decades now. Kanto heats up early and mid-July. Heat then centers strongest in western Japan late July and August.

Also, the real tsuyu is July - not June as people like to fondly relate to you. The greatest heat and humidity combination and the most dangerous rains. July, not June. June has been quite pleasant for decades now, but people in Japan still like to bash June because that’s what their school teachers and folklore use to tell them, and they repeat it as a “Kimari monku”.( pat complaint)

many scientists have warned us for the past 25 years that Global Warming is realty not a hoax, I just hope that everyone is safe and doing well, it is going to get worse for a very long time before it gets better, and NOT in our time.

Don’t cut the trees on the mountain and build a house below.

People have short memories. This basically happens every year for two or three decades now

Eh, no you are wrong...

The headline:

Japan warns of 'heaviest rain ever' in southwest

that is of most concern. Clearly not a regular thing

Climate change is really. It can't be denied.

Stop with climate change cause for everything. Here is a scientific study denying any change for Japan in particular. It is limited to the period 1985-2013 but climate change, if it is existing has been exisiting for over a century by now...

Climate change is global but surely far from disastrous. Human's fault in general.

Indeed, don't cut trees and build below.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316820738_The_recent_trend_in_annual_death_toll_by_landslide_disasters_in_Japan

Stop with climate change cause for everything. Here is a scientific study denying any change for Japan in particular.

Your link must be wrong. That is a study looking at the risk of death in landslides.

Eh, no you are wrong...

The headline:

Japan warns of 'heaviest rain ever' in southwest that is of most concern. Clearly not a regular thing.

Agree.

Some memories are short, some are long. I remember each of my 30 rainy seasons in Japan, and things — for whatever reason — are changing.

One example: The Tenjim Festival is held every year on July 24 & 25. The rainy season used to end like clockwork around the 24th. It now ends several weeks before.

Another example: My hometown experiences extreme lightning (as bright as the daytime sun), downpours in which you can’t see the front of your car, and frequent tornadoes. When I came to Japan, I noticed the absence of all of these. The rainy season was just an on-and-off drizzle. Now we have sudden, torrential downpours.

Normal?

Elvis is here

That headline “heaviest rain ever” is over-the-top sensationalistic. They will make overly-extreme warnings to cover themselves if there is loss of life due to a flooding event and people have failed to evacuate. To get people to evacuate who would otherwise stay at home, they will exaggerate the event warning. Why would you not suspect that as a motive? Are you naive?

Of course, anything is possible. And there is a flooding danger - Again: ALWAYS in early and mid July. And I certainly would not like to come back here tomorrow and say, “This was the heaviest rain ever”. But you know what? I don’t believe I’ll have to.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316820738_The_recent_trend_in_annual_death_toll_by_landslide_disasters_in_Japan

Your reference do not support your claim that there is no change for Japan attributable to climate change, it only looks to the relationship between slides and deaths, which obviously can be affected by preventive measures.

In fact the abstract explicitly contradicts your claim when it mentions "The number of landslide disasters in each year was significantly correlated to the precipitation amount averaged" because climate change has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt to increase the amount of precipitation.

Kyushu needs more money to bolster defenses which Kanto has had for a long time -Tokyo is pretty much immune to flooding due to the money spent on it…

The climate is always hanging and has been since time immemorial And it will continue to do so long after are gone.

In the case of flooding in Japan, want to blame it on something? How about on concreting over everything and artificially changing river flows. Where's that water supposed to go?

One dead, 3 missing

Rest in Peace for the departed.

I hope the missing three are found alive and well.

Japan has a five-level evacuation order, but people cannot be compelled to leave their homes.

Then it's not an order, is it?

People have short memories. This basically happens every year for two or three decades now

More than 2 or 3 decades, and writers every year make the same warnings Most posters here dont know, nor remember, but you are 100% correct.

Japan has a five-level evacuation order, but people cannot be compelled to leave their homes.

I personally believe that if an order has been given, and people choose not to follow, then the government has absolved itself of any and all responsibility in spending the time and effort in rescuing people after the fact, and that they should be forced to literally pay for it. Japan already charges people for mountain rescues, so it's not all that hard to do it here either!

I personally believe that if an order has been given, and people choose not to follow, then the government has absolved itself of any and all responsibility...

You're in your 80s in a small town and have a bad knee. No car and daycare service is just once a week. Being stranded on a mountain when climbing is your own fault. Being in your house and not being able to get out is not. And then there are the constant false alarms....

You're in your 80s in a small town and have a bad knee. No car and daycare service is just once a week. Being stranded on a mountain when climbing is your own fault. Being in your house and not being able to get out is not. And then there are the constant false alarms....

Wrong! When the community or authorities issue warnings or evacuation orders, they actually go out and pick these people up who are in danger.

That word "ever" is a bit of a stretch

@Virusrex

In fact the abstract explicitly contradicts your claim when it mentions "The number of landslide disasters in each year was significantly correlated to the precipitation amount averaged" because climate change has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt to increase the amount of precipitation

Did you check the average number of slides over that period ?

No apparent increase on average !

Hence if correlated to amount of precipitations means no increase in amount of precipitations, ON AVERAGE.

You can always find a particlar year like 2018 for landslides.

Far from being scientific you are. You are looking for ideology.

By the way, I do think climate change is happening, but not at all at the level to scare people and make them pay easy taxes to make think money is key.

No, individual and urban adaptation is. No money needed. Intelligence only.

Again, don't cut trees and build below on a hill.