OR central Japanwhere torrential rains continue, is threatened for the second day today by floods and landslides, which have already claimed the life of one person, while at least six others are missing.

Rivers with muddy water have swelled in Mix it upin the Noto peninsula, where the terrible damage caused by the earthquake of January 1, when 318 lives were lost, is still visible, AFP journalists found.

A message was sent to the city’s residents by the disaster prevention agency, warning them that the rain may cause sewers to overflow and sewage may rise to the surface.

“My house was completely destroyed by the earthquake,” Hideaki Sato, 74, told AFP from a bridge, looking anxiously at the rushing waters in the canal below.

“I now live in a small apartment. If the stream overflows, I’ll be in real trouble,” he added, pointing to a wooden building behind him.

Japanese authorities ordered about 75,000 people to evacuate their homes immediately, calling the rainfall “unprecedented”, while the Japan Meteorological Agency issued an emergency warning of dangerous weather yesterday, which remains in effect today.

Impressive flooding hit many homes, as well as eight temporary accommodation centers for earthquake victims in the cities Uajima and Suzu. Many of those who lost their homes when the 7.5 earthquake occurred on New Year’s Day lived in these centers.

In addition to flooded buildings, roads were cut off by landslides and about 6,200 households are without power — and some of them no water — according to authorities in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The local authorities in Ishikawa they announced that one person lost his life, two others were seriously injured and three are missing.

At a road rehabilitation site in Oujima, three more people, workers, have been missing since yesterday when a landslide occurred, a local official added.

Their colleague who was also initially thought to be missing was able to “take shelter in an underground tunnel” along with 26 other workers, he said.

A search and rescue operation was due to resume at 05:00 (local time; yesterday Saturday at 23:00 Greek time), but was suspended amid rain and was now expected to resume “around 11:00”.

Some ten rivers or streams have swelled in the area, the waters of which carry uprooted trees and other debris, which sometimes end up falling on bridges.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has placed the prefecture Ishikawa on maximum alert, warning against “deadly” dangers.

Satoshi Sugimoto, an expert with the agency, referred to “torrential rains of unprecedented magnitude” that reached 120mm hourly on Uajima yesterday — a level never recorded since records began in 1929.

The military was called to participate in search, rescue and relief operations in the provincial area, along the Sea of ​​Japan.

Some 16,800 inhabitants of the neighboring prefecture Niigata and the prefecture Yamagatafurther north-east, have been ordered to evacuate their homes urgently by authorities, an order that remains in place today.

Rainfall levels in Japan have been breaking records in recent years, causing floods and landslides, in some cases claiming lives.

Experts point out that climate change is intensifying the frequency, severity and unpredictable nature of these phenomena.