Overview

• Japan’s weather agency warns that a stationary front will keep conditions very unstable over northern Japan through August 21, elevating risks of landslides, lowland inundation, and river flooding.
• Forecasts call for locally intense 24-hour totals of up to 180 millimeters in parts of Tohoku and around 100 millimeters in Hokkaido, with possible linear rainbands overnight in Aomori, Iwate, and Akita.
• The Cabinet Office’s first nationwide assessment finds at least 520,000 people would be asked to evacuate early if a Nankai Trough “giant earthquake” warning were issued.
• Only 130 municipalities have completed designating pre-evacuation areas, and the number of people covered may rise as local work advances, with guidance calling for about one week outside inundation zones.
• In Kyushu, Kumamoto reports at least ¥13 billion in agricultural, forestry, and fisheries losses from the August 10–11 downpours, and JA Group Kumamoto has urgently sought an early severe-disaster designation and farmer aid.