The Tenjo River is seen overflowing in the Nutahigashi district of the Hiroshima Prefecture city of Mihara on the morning of July 8, 2021, after downpours hit the area. (Mainichi/Naoki Fuchiwaki)

       The ticket gate for JR conventional trains is seen closed due to suspension of train services for the whole day, at JR Hiroshima Station in the city of Hiroshima on July 8, 2021. (Mainichi/Kana Nemoto)

       Over 1.3 million people in western Japan had been ordered to evacuate as of 9 a.m. on July 8 due to the heavy rain lashing the region, especially the Chugoku area.

       The orders impacted residents in seven prefectures across the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kinki regions. The heavy rainfall through the morning of July 8 was brought by an active seasonal rain front.

       In the city of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, where torrential rain topped 50 millimeters per hour, residents in about 2,574 households in the Nutahigashi district and 862 households in the Koizumi district, as well as 42 households in the Myojin 5-chome district were ordered to evacuate. Authorities issued the highest alert of the five-level emergency warning system to call on residents to protect their lives.

       The downpour also wreaked havoc on public transportation, including the suspension of service on the Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train line.

       (Mainichi)

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