Attention shifts to Japan flood risks as heavy rains increase

Immobile: A car sitting in water after the area was devastated by flooding in Mabi, Okayama prefecture. — AFP

TOKYO: Japanese have long been conditioned to prepare for earthquakes, but recent powerful typhoons and sudden, heavy rains have brought to the forefront another kind of disaster: flooding.

Experts warn that thousands could die and as many as five million people would need to be evacuated if massive dikes and levees in low-lying eastern Tokyo are overwhelmed by surging floodwaters.