About 104mm of rain fell in a single hour on Nagoya on Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders across parts of the Japanese host city just days before competition at the Asian Games gets under way.
Around 400 athletes and staff staying in converted shipping containers at the Garden Pier area were moved to higher ground as the storm hit. They were allowed back roughly two hours later, once the evacuation order was lifted.
Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa said the disruption had not shaken confidence in the schedule.
“We are not worried about the conditions of the venues and we believe there is no problem holding the Asian Games as planned,” he said.
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Cruise ship, containers, hotels
The Aichi-Nagoya Games are running without a traditional athletes’ village. Organizers have spread competitors across a cruise ship, temporary containers and hotels, an arrangement that has left some rooms more exposed to the weather than others.
More than 11,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions across Asia are signed up to compete, a field that outnumbers a Summer Olympics roster. Organizers are hosting more than 17,000 athletes and officials in total.
City flooded, transport halted
Roughly 3,500 residents took shelter in Nagoya’s emergency centers as the record rain flooded dozens of roads and homes, stranding pedestrians and vehicles. City subway and bus services were temporarily suspended, and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest flood warning for a major local river.
Rainwater has already been found in some competition venues. Hirosawa returned to the September 19 opening.
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“There has been limited impact like rainwater leaking from the roofs of some buildings, but the situation is not so serious that the opening on the 19th is in jeopardy for now,” he said.
Basketball tips off on Thursday, ahead of the official opening. More wet weather is forecast for the coming days, before the opening ceremony on September 19 and the closing on October 4.
