On August 10, heavy rain from a stagnant front lashed North Japan's Akita and Aomori prefectures, flooding hundreds of buildings as nine rivers overflowed their banks.
According to the Aomori Prefectural Government and other sources, seven rivers overflowed their banks in five municipalities in the prefecture, including the city of Ajigasawa and the city of Goshogawara. In Ajigasawa, water from the Nakamura River flowed into a residential area of some 436,700 square meters, and at least 445 buildings were flooded, but no injuries were confirmed.
The 37-year-old manager of a bento store was seen scooping mud out of his shop on Aug. 10. Marks left on the shop walls showed that the floodwater had reached past waist height. He had received more than 100 orders for the obon holiday period in mid-August, but it has become impossible to respond as the shop's cooking equipment can't be used. The manager said, Though it's not known how long the rain will continue, I'd like to rebuild my business by clearing things up little by little. According to the government of neighboring Akita Prefecture, the Mitane River in the town of Mitane and the Haneyamazawa River in the city of Kitaakita overflowed their banks, and rice paddies in the vicinity were flooded. The Mitane town government issued an alert to the public to take emergency safety precautions, the highest of Japan's five levels of weather disaster warnings. A total of two buildings in the city of Oga and the city of Happo were flooded below floor level as of 3 p.m. on Aug. 10.
Train operations were suspended on several lines in the region, including most of the sections between Akita and Aomori stations on the JR Ou Line.
The total precipitation since the rain began on August 8 in the Fukaura Prefecture had reached 354.5 millimeters as of August 10 p.m. - about double the normal level seen in the entire month of August, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency JMA.
The weather front is expected to weaken temporarily around Aug. 14 but it will become active again around Aug. 15.
The JMA said that a tropical cyclone south of Japan is expected to develop into a typhoon and come very close to east Japan between the night of August 12 and 13. The agency is calling for people in east Japan to be on their guard against heavy rain.