Highest-level rain alert issued for Japan's Ishikawa

Japan's weather agency on Saturday issued its highest-level alert for heavy rain in parts of Ishikawa Prefecture, which was severely hit by the New Year's Day earthquake. The emergency warning, the highest level of alert on the agency's scale of one to five, covers the cities of Wajima, Suzu and the town of Noto, which were being hit particularly hard by the rains, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Weather officials urged people in the affected areas, which are still recovering from the powerful quake earlier this year, to exercise maximum caution as flooding and mudslides are very likely to have occurred.

At least one person was missing in Wajima City due to the heavy rain, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing prefectural officials.

As of 11:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, nearly 5,000 households in Ishikawa Prefecture were without electricity. Wajima and Suzu had ordered about 30,000 residents to evacuate, the report said.

The JMA said that the warning could also be issued for other areas as the rains continue, Xinhua news agency reported quoting NHK.

Mudslide alerts have also been issued for parts of Ishikawa, Yamagata and Niigata Prefectures, which have already seen significant rainfall.