Floods in Japan

While the U.S. is suffering through drought, Japan is experiencing record rainfall:

It's a race against time for rescuers as they desperately search for people buried after heavy rain caused mudslides that have already claimed 20 lives in south western Japan.

The torrential rain continued to fall as police, firefighters and troops dug through mud and rubble with shovels after ‘unprecedented’ downpours swamped whole neighbourhoods yesterday.

Television footage showed torrents of muddy water carrying uprooted trees and other debris in a violent deluge, while rivers burst their banks and flooded towns and villages in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan.

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In the city of Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, central Kyushu, landslides buried at least 17 households, killing 19 people with six more still missing, local officials said.

Kumamoto prefectural official Yushin Maekawa said: ‘We will keep searching for the missing throughout the night, while urging our citizens to stand guard as heavy rain continues sporadically.’

More than 250 households were told to evacuate, while everyone living on the floodplain of the Shirakawa River in Kumamoto City was advised to get to safety.

One thing I want to emphasize is that there is nothing particularly special about the number of natural disasters we are having now, other than, because of the larger and denser populations, more people are impacted. Natural disasters have always happened. But that is the point for preppers. Floods and other disasters may occur at any time. Some, like high temperatures and drought, riots and financial upheaval, can be weathered in your home, while others such as wildfires and floods may require you to leave at a moments notice. Best be prepared for both possibilities.