Typhoon No. 19: 90% of the dead concentrated in areas more than 1.2 times the past maximum rainfall December 12 6:23

Typhoon No. 19 brought 1000mm of heavy rainfall in 24 hours. On the other hand, there were areas where many deaths occurred due to rain of about 250 mm. As a result of analyzing the relationship between damage and rainfall, it was found that 90% of the dead were concentrated in areas where the rainfall was more than 1.2 times the previous maximum. "Attention must be paid to" hazardous rainfall "exceeding the past maximum in each region."

In the heavy rain caused by Typhoon No. 19, it was analyzed that 800 to 1000 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours in Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, while the rain observed in the Tohoku region was roughly in Marumori Town, Miyagi Prefecture, where 10 people died. It was about 250 mm in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, where 600 people died and 9 people died.

NHK, together with experts, analyzed the relationship between rainfall and death using the data of 1km square analysis by radar of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Exceeded the maximum value.

This time, of the 79 people who died from floods and earth and sand disasters, 43 people were killed in areas where the 24-hour rainfall was 1.2 times or more and less than 1.5 times the maximum in the past, and 28 people died in areas where the rainfall was 1.5 times or more. In total, it is about 90%.

This trend was also confirmed in last year's heavy rains in West Japan, and the analyzed professor Motoyuki Ushiyama of the University of Shizuoka said, “Victims are concentrated in areas where rainfall has exceeded the past maximum. It is important to understand the “dangerous rainfall” for the region. ”

How to find the past maximum in your area

How much rainfall is dangerous in my area? You can check the “highest rainfall ever” as an index on the JMA website.

1: First, if you are using a personal computer, select the “Various Data / Documents” tab at the top of the top page of the Japan Meteorological Agency website. In the case of a smartphone, please tap the menu on the upper left three lines.

2: Select “Past weather data search”, which is the second item from the top in the “Weather” item on the left of the opened page.

3: Then, on the left side of the search page, click the button "Select a prefecture / region" with a map of Japan drawn.

4: A map of Japan will be displayed. Select the prefecture or region you want to check. For example, if you want to check the data in the center of Tokyo, click “Tokyo”. The map of Tokyo will be enlarged, so select the observation point you want to examine. By the way, the center of Tokyo is an observation point called “Tokyo”, so click here.

5: You will be returned to the “Past Weather Data Search” screen again, so you will see “1-10th place in the observation history for each point” with a red “!” Mark in the orange triangle at the bottom right of the screen. Click

6: A list of past observation records, such as rainfall, wind speed, and temperature, for the observation point “Tokyo” will appear. Of these, the “maximum monthly 24-hour rainfall” is the largest ever 24-hour rainfall. In Tokyo, 392.5 mm observed in September 1958 is the maximum value.