Self-Defense Force members are seen patrolling a neighborhood in the Saga Prefecture city of Takeo to check the safety of local residents on Aug. 15, 2021, following heavy rains and flooding. (Mainichi/Hiroyuki Takahashi)

       SAGA -- A day after record rainfall on Aug. 14 and the ensuing flooding of the Rokkaku River in the southwest Japan prefecture of Saga, residents of the prefectural city of Takeo were left scraping out mud from houses and cleaning household items.

       The locals appeared exhausted as heavy rain was expected to continue in the Kyushu region including Saga from Aug. 16 onward.

       The Rokkaku River flooding also caused an inland flood, in which water from tributaries, water channels and drains overflow into residential areas after the main stream's water level exceeds the levels of the tributaries. The city of Takeo was flooded during torrential rain in August 2019, and Akiko Haraguchi, 72, who runs a diner in the city's Asahicho district told the Mainichi Shimbun, "There's nothing I can do. It's the same as two years ago." The fridge to cool beer mugs in the diner had fallen on the floor due to the flooding.

       Floodwaters remain at knee level on the streets of Takeo, Saga Prefecture, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Mainichi/Hiroyuki Takahashi)

       At Takeo driving school in Asahicho Amagu, all the employees there were seen cleaning up after the flood. The school was also flooded two years ago, and vice manager Kazuya Ohashi, 47, said, in a frustrated tone, "We want to somehow make it work here."

       The school managed to keep the damage to a minimum this time around as the driving lesson cars had been evacuated outside the school grounds, but the reception and lobby were flooded. Ohashi and others used the limited time after the rain had stopped to dry chairs and other pieces of furniture outside, but rain was expected in the area again on Aug. 16.

       At the city's Kitagata community center, which serves as an evacuation shelter, the water reportedly closed in on the entrance before dawn on Aug. 14. Yaeko Matsue, 68, who has been taking shelter at the community center with her mother-in-law since Aug. 13, said they had to evacuate to the building's second floor as the water level was rising.

       The floodwater had not subsided even on Aug. 15. When Matsue got on the local fire department's rescue boat to go retrieve items from her home, the water level was at around the fire crew's hips.

       "I want to go home soon. It's mentally taxing to spend time at the evacuation shelter because you can't continue a normal life there," said the distressed Matsue.

       (Japanese original by Hiroyuki Takahashi, Saga Bureau)

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