At least 64 killed,dozens missing in Japan after unprecedented rain
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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s unprecedented number of death riots rose to at least 64 on Sunday after rivers burst their banks and drove millions of people out of their homes, media reports said.
An aerial photo shows a local rescued in a flooded area in Kurashiki, southern Japan, by helicopter rescuers from a submerged house. This image was taken by Kyodo on July 7, 2018. Compulsory loan Kyodo / via REUTERS
Torrential rains shook some parts of western Japan with three times the usual rainfall for a normal July, triggering landslides and sending rivers across their shores that held many people in their homes or on rooftops.
“We have never experienced this kind of rain,” said a Japanese Weather Agency (JMA) official at a press conference. “This is a situation of extreme danger.”
At least 64 people were killed and 44 missing, said the national television station NHK, after the death toll had been exceeded to 49 hours. Among those missing was a 9-year-old boy who was imprisoned in his house by a landslide that left at least three others dead. One of them was a man in his eighties.
“All I have is what I’m wearing,” said a rescued woman holding a toy poodle to NHK television.
“We fled to the second floor, but then the water rose more and we went to the third floor,” she said.
Japan’s government set up an emergency management center at the Prime Minister’s office, and some 54,000 military, police and fire department rescuers were deployed across much of southwestern and western Japan.
“There are still many people missing and others need help, we are working against time,” said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Heavy rain emergency alerts remained in place for three prefectures, with 300 mm (11 inches) predicted Monday in parts of the smallest main island of Shikoku.
Evacuation orders remained for about 2 million people and another 2.3 million were recommended for evacuation, although the rain had stopped and floods had fallen in some areas. Landslide blasts were issued in more than a quarter of the nation’s prefectures.
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“My husband could not come home from work because the street was flooded, and since it was raining, I did not have enough courage to go with two infants to an evacuation center after dark,” a woman wrote on Twitter. without giving more details.
The rain started last week as the remnants of a typhoon poured into a seasonal rain front and humid air from the Pacific flowed in, making it even more active – a pattern that caused floods in southwest Japan just one year ago. The front then remained in one place for an unusually long time, the JMA said.
In parts of western Japan roads were blocked and trains blocked. Shinkansen high-speed trains were resumed after a break on Friday to a limited extent.
Car manufacturers including Mazda Motor Corp. (7261.T) and Daihatsu Diesel Manufacturing Co (6023.T) stopped operating in several factories on Saturday due to lack of parts or dangerous conditions. They should decide on plans for the coming week later on Sunday.
Electronics manufacturer Panasonic Corp. (6752.TOne of the facilities in Okayama, western Japan, was unavailable due to road closures, although it was closed to the weekend anyway. Englisch: emagazine.credit-suisse.com/app/art … = 263 & lang = en. A decision on the next week would be made on Monday.
While the Japanese government closely monitors weather conditions and issues early warnings, the fact that much of the country is mountainous outside major cities and that buildings are being built on virtually any usable land is prone to disasters.
The post-WWII reforestation policy, with many trees planted and replanted with trees whose roots are less able to store water, has also contributed to the danger.
