Japanese ordered to evacuate flood-hit Island

[Rhiannon12866]

Source: Al Jazeera

Evacuation order issued for 240000 people hit by heavy rains on main southern island of Kyushu.

Almost a quarter of a million people have been ordered to leave their homes in southwest Japan as heavy rain pounds the area for the third day, leaving at least 20 people dead, officials and reports say.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of more landslides and floods on the main southern island of Kyushu as rainfall of up to 11 centimetres per hour was recorded early on Saturday.

The agency warned that rainfall of up to 80 millimetres per hour could hit parts of northern Kyushu later in the day.


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More than 75 centimetres of rain fell in 72 hours in the inland city of Aso, the meteorological agency said (AFP)

[Maynar]

1. Sure hope that doesn't happen to Fukushima

otherwise we could all be in deep shite, what with their situation still extremely precarious.

Just sayin'

[Art_from_Ark]

2. The same kind of thing won't happen in Fukushima

Kyushu is especially vulnerable to flooding because it is directly exposed to tropical depressions when they are their strongest and is very mountainous, meaning that floodwaters can come raging down steep slopes and cause a lot damage in low-lying areas. The site of Fukushima Dai-ichi is not going to experience such dramatic rainfall, although typhoons, in a weakened state, will sometimes pass through the area and bring some heavy rains that may last two or three hours.

[Maynar]

3. Kinda good news

because I know what a precarious state Fuku is in, and I have no experience with the Kyushu details. I still empathize with Kyushu tho. Gotta be a terrible, terrible thing to endure.

Thanks for that, Art_from_Ark.

[tru]

4. not to worry

The giant radioactive ants will have already carried away everyone from Fukushima. Oh, wait, the ants don't exist? Guess scientific ignorance is in both political parties.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. It would be pretty hard for everyone to evacuate Kyushu itself,

since it's a large island with millions of people on it, but I can see how they would be asked to evacuate homes that were prone to flooding or landslides.

I've been to Aso. It's in a mountainous area on the way to a volcano, so that makes it vulnerable to landslides.

[Marrah_G]

6. damn- Japan just can't catch a break from Mother nature

There is no climate change though...

[PavePusher]

7. This is nothing new for certain areas of Japan. Been that way for centuries.

Whether the incidents are occuring with any greater frequency, I have no idea.

[limpyhobbler]

8. Increased flood risk is linked to global warming.

Why should this bit of Japan be any exception...

[PavePusher]

9. "Risk" does not always equal "reality".

I'm sure if the number of such incidents has increased, there's data to support it.

[limpyhobbler]

11. Sure it does, over time

Risk = Probability

Increased probability of floods means that on any given day the chance of a flood or heavy rains is higher in some places than it would have been without climate change. Over the course of years this guarantees there will be more extreme events.


http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/trends-in-natural-disasters_a899

The extreme weather the world has seen is part of a larger trend, he said. "The world is warming up ... It's warming for sure and science is very confident that most of the warming is due to human causes."

Every time we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, Sommerville said, we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Now, climate scientists see "the changed odds, the loaded dice that favors more extreme events and more high temperature records being broken," he said.

The decade that just ended saw nine of the 10 warmest years on record, and warmer temperatures mean more moisture in the air. That moisture can fall as torrential, flooding rains in the summertime or blizzards in the winter.

"Because the whole water cycle speeds up in a warming world, there's more water in the atmosphere today than there was a few years ago on average, and you're seeing a lot of that in the heavy rains and floods for example in Australia," Sommervile said.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/extreme-flooding-world-caused-climate-change-scientists/story?id=12610066

[freshwest]

10. OMG, what a lovely area. Moving almost a quarter million people out of the way of the flood? I know

That the Japanese can do it. They have structures to divert lahars and other problems.. They are prepared. Still, I hope they will get to return home soon.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. I know, it's incredibly sad.

The Japanese people are resourceful, but they've had an awfully tragic couple of years...