TOKYO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Torrential rain inundated wide areas across central and eastern Japan on Tuesday, with the weather agency warning of landslides and rivers potentially bursting their banks.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), a cold air front passing Japan's main island of Honshu mixing with warm, humid air, has led to the formation of storm clouds, with the agency warning of wave surges, tornado-like winds and lightning strikes, especially along coastal regions.
While Japan's capital city of Tokyo recorded 13.5 mm of rain per hour as of early morning and the central region of Nagoya was inundated with 23 mm per hour, the western city of Wakayama was hit with 55.5 mm of rain per hour, a record for the month.
In some areas of the central prefecture of Shizuoka, residents were advised to evacuate as rivers began to swell to dangerous levels, local officials said.
The local government also issued a mudslide warning for the prefecture, as 300 mm of rain had been logged as falling in the 24-hour period through Tuesday morning.
The JMA has also warned of waves surging as high as 6 m in eastern and northern Pacific coastal regions, coupled with powerful gusts.
Some transportation networks were disrupted as a result of the torrential rain in Tokyo, with trains being delayed or canceled and boat services on Tokyo Bay canceled.
Heavy rain is expected, the JMA said, to continue to inundate wide swaths of Kanto in the coming hours through early Wednesday morning.
