Japan picks up the pieces after Hagibis
Rescue efforts for people stranded in flooded areas were in full force yesterday, after a powerful typhoon dashed heavy rainfall and winds through a widespread area of Japan, including Tokyo.
Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday and moved northward. It left seven people dead, 17 missing and more than 100 people injured, according to public broadcaster NHK. The numbers were growing, underlining the damage from Hagibis, which means ‘‘speed’’ in the Philippine language of Tagalog.
News footage showed a rescue helicopter hovering in a flooded
area in Nagano Prefecture, after an embankment of the Chikuma River broke, plucking people from the second floor of a home submerged in muddy waters.
Several other rivers had also overflowed, including Tama River near Tokyo.
Authorities warned that the risk of mudslides remained.
Some train service in the Tokyo area, much of which had halted, resumed from early morning, although others were
undergoing safety checks and were expected to start later in the day.
The World Rugby Cup match between Namibia and Canada, scheduled for yesterday in Kamaishi, northern Japan, was canceled as a precautionary measure for safety reasons.
The matches for Saturday had been canceled. Stores and amusement parks had been closed.
The usually crowded train stations and streets of Tokyo
were abandoned as people were advised to stay indoors. But life was quickly returning to normal under clear sunny skies.
About 17,000 police and military troops had been standing ready for rescue operations, under government orders.
Evacuation centers had been set up in coastal towns, and tens of thousands of people had evacuated, praying their homes were still there after the storm passed. –AP