Millions in aid set for typhoon-hit Japan areas

JAPAN’S government said on Wednesday it would set aside mi l l ions of dol la r s to help areas devastated by Ty phoon Hagibis, which k i l led more t ha n 70 people across t he countr y.

Hagibis slammed into Japan on Saturday, unleashing fierce winds and unprecedented rain that triggered landslides and caused dozens of rivers to burst their banks.

By midday on Wednesday, the government put the death toll at 74, with more a dozen people still missing.

Japa nese Pr i me Minister Shinzo Abe said his government would offer $ 6.5 million to help areas affected by the storm.

Tokyo will also fast-track the disbursement of subsidies to more than 300 disaster-hit municipalities.

“The government will stand united to tackle the issue of supporting victims so that they will be able to return to normal life as quickly as possible,” Abe said.

‘Making their utmost efforts’

As of Wednesday morning, more than 10,000 households were still suffering from electricity blackouts, while more than 110,000 households are without running water, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“Today, too, rescue workers a re ma k i ng t hei r ut most ef forts in search and rescue work,” he said.

“Due to the heavy rains we’ve experienced, the level of water is rising in rivers and there are spots where the ground is getting muddy.”

“We call on people to keep vigilant about landslides and floods,” he added.

Television footage showed devastated residents returning to homes filled with brown mud, and rescuers searching a hillside for a family missing after a landslide.

The country’s northeast was particularly hard hit by the typhoon – with a death toll of 26 in Fukushima prefecture, the highest among the 36 of Japan’s 47 prefectures that were affected.

Col lapsed emba n k ments were obser ved at around 80 locat ions a long 55 r ivers i n t he count r y, t he inf rast r ucture ministr y said, as it continues to assess t he extent of the damage.

Local trains have gradually resumed operation but some Shinkansen bullet trains were still suspended in the hard-hit Nagano and Niigata regions in central Japan.

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