RESCUE OPERATIONS CONTINUE AFTER FLOODING IN JAPAN.
• The death toll from Japan’s worst flooding disaster in 35 years rose to more than 110 Monday, with dozens still missing.
Record rainfall deluged central and southwest Japan last week, causing flooding, landslides, burst riverbanks and collapsed buildings. While the rain eased off in some areas Monday, swaths of Japan remained underwater, and flood warnings were still in effect in the worst hit areas, including Okayama Prefecture.
Officials also warned of sudden showers, thunderstorms and the danger of more landslides in areas where steep mountainsides were already saturated from last week’s deluge.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe boosted the number of nationwide rescue workers assisting with the crisis to 73,000 as part of an emergency effort he earlier called a “race against time.”
Several million people across 19 prefectures were advised to leave their homes over the weekend, with tens of thousands still reportedly seeking refuge in evacuation centres.
The number of casualties was expected to rise further this week as rescue operations continue, with 61 people still missing and many others thought to be stranded in their homes due to flooding or damaged infrastructure. In some areas the floodwaters began to recede, revealing the full extent of the devastation, with residents faced with overturned cars, collapsed homes and cleaning up thick coats of brown mud.
Minoru Katayama, 86, rushed back to his home in Mabi city, in Okayama prefecture, and found his 88-year-old wife, Chiyoko, collapsed on the first floor. Floodwaters had started rising so fast that the couple was caught by surprise.
“My wife could not climb up the stairs, and nobody else was around to help us out,” Katayama told national broadcaster NHK. His wife was among more than 20 people who were found dead in the city, where a river dike collapsed.
Another area devastated by the rains was Hiroshima Prefecture, where 170 patients and staff from one hospital were evacuated via helicopters and rafts through flooded streets.
Hundreds of thousands of homes were without water Monday, while 11,200 homes had no electricity, according to power companies.
The deluge also hit regional industries. Mazda was forced to close its head office in Hiroshima Monday, while Panasonic suspended operations at one plant.
The unusually intense rainfall was attributed to the remnants of a typhoon feeding into a seasonal rainy front, a situation exacerbated by humid warm air pouring in from the Pacific.