Flash Flooding & Heat Ravage Japan
While much of the southwestern United States is currently experiencing drought conditions, across the Pacific in Japan, it has been a very different story. Historic flooding engulfed much of the country last week, with anywhere from 12 to 20 inches of rain falling in a very short period of time. The city of Uwajima received 14.3 inches of rainfall in just two hours on July 15th, which is roughly 1.5 times that city’s average rainfall for the entire month. Since the region is very mountainous, the heavy rainfall triggered mudslides that devastated many towns. Tragically, more than 200 people have lost their lives in the flooding as of this writing.
Source: CNN
Compounding matters even further, is the fact that a scorching heatwave settled over Japan following the floods. The city of Ibigawa reached 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.8 Celsius) on Sunday. Unfortunately, eight more lives were claimed by the heat over the weekend.
