Emergency River Flooding Warning Issued for Wakayama due to Typhoon

Tokyo, June 3 (Jiji Press)--Typhoon Jangmi made landfall on the southern part of Wakayama Prefecture around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, leading to the issuance of a Level 5 emergency flooding warning for the Koza River in the western Japan prefecture.

The warning was issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Wakayama prefectural government at 5:35 a.m.

As the river, which runs through the Wakayama towns of Kozagawa and Kushimoto, overflowed around the Tsukinose district in Kozagawa, Level 5 emergency evacuation warnings requiring people to take immediate actions to protect their lives were issued for some areas in the towns.

It was the first time that an emergency river flooding warning has been issued since the meteorological agency and the land ministry revised their weather warning system and introduced the alert level last month.

"Please evacuate to safer places than where you are now because your lives are in danger," Takuya Hosomi, head of the meteorological agency's Forecast Division, said at a press conference. The emergency flooding warning for the Koza River was downgraded to a flooding advisory at 8:50 a.m.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]