TOKYO: A body was found drifting in the Sea of Japan that Japanese rescuers said on Tuesday might be a teenager who went missing in a severe flood 10 days ago. Rescuers found the body on Monday in waters off the port of Fukui in central Japan, some 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of the Noto region that experienced torrential rain, violent floods and landslides that killed at least 13 people. The search for Hanon Kiso, 14, captured national attention as her distressed father Takaya Kiso appealed for help finding his daughter, who was home alone when the disaster hit on September 21.

The body found on Monday was wearing a gym suit with a tag that rescuers believed says “Kiso”, a local coastguard official told AFP. Takaya Kiso, who saw photos of the body, told reporters on Tuesday that he believed it was his daughter. “We haven’t been able to positively identify her, but I am sure it was my daughter’s clothes,” he said. He was at work when water surrounded their home and rushed back, but the house was already gone.

“In my last phone call to her, I told her to wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, and it looks like she listened,” Takaya Kiso said. The coastguard official said efforts to identify the body were continuing.

More than 540 millimeters (21 inches) of rain was recorded in the city of Wajima over 72 hours, the heaviest continuous downpour since comparative data became available. The disaster hit an area making a fragile recovery from a magnitude 7.5 quake on New Year’s Day that toppled buildings, triggered tsunami waves and sparked a major fire. Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. — AFP