Move Along, Nothing to See Here

Over one million people in southwest Japan are under evacuation orders as torrential rains continue to fall.  The current storm began last week and is expected to continue through July 4 (Japanese local time).  This is the third time in five years that heavy rainfall events have drenched this area, causing substantial damage and loss of life.  Landslides caused by the heavy rain are creating high risk areas over a quarter of the heavily populated (13 million) island of Kyushu.

Many areas have seen more rain in a single day than in a typical month of July, the weatherman said, as residents in entire cities, like Kagoshima City, Kirishima and Aira, were told to seek shelter. The Japan Meteorological Agency attributed the heavy rains to an active rainy seasonal front that remains above the south-western island of Kyushu, thereby creating unstable weather conditions. It warned that the downpour may yet intensify overnight, asking the elderly and handicapped to seek safety early without waiting for any order.