Japan braces for landslides, mass evacuations as twin storms approach

More than 200 flights were canceled, dozens of train services were suspended and many expressways were closed on Friday as Tropical Storms Mekkhala and Higos closed in on Japan. Warm, moist air from the storms fed a seasonal rain front, and the combination pushed authorities to issue high-level landslide warnings while ordering roughly 1 million people to evacuate in affected areas.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s disaster-prevention portal showed the scale of the breakdown: more than 200 flights were canceled, dozens of train services were suspended and many expressways were closed as the weather system cut across transport networks. Toyota briefly halted operations at a factory in Kyushu.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the seasonal front and the tropical systems could drive heavier rain across western Japan. Level 4 is an urgent order for residents to evacuate from affected areas, while Level 5 signals a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate safety action. Some evacuation orders in Okinawa and other southern areas had already been lifted as the storms advanced.

In Taiwan, Mekkhala had already crossed the island and brought severe rain that shut down parts of the south and north, keeping more than 5 million people off work or school. Flooded streets, swollen rivers and mud-clearing crews appeared across the region as the storm track shifted eastward.

In Chiba Prefecture, 55.5 millimeters of rain fell per hour in Kimitsu and 42 millimeters per hour in Ichihara, both new June hourly-rain records, recorded by the Japan Meteorological Agency. A landslide in Hirao, Yamaguchi Prefecture, left a man in his 70s missing, and eight people were injured across Nara, Yamaguchi, Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures.

In Kyoto, the Kamo River surged with muddy water, while in Osaka a road cracked after water burst from a manhole. A resident said, “The rain wasn’t too bad” overnight.