Floods, mudslides leave scores dead
PEOPLE TAKE TO ROOFTOPS TO ESCAPE More than two million evacuated as torrential downpours lash island.
The death toll from record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose yesterday to at least 57, officials said, as rescue workers and troops struggled in the mud and water to save lives.
Local media put the toll at 73, with dozens more people missing and the number of fatalities expected to rise.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned of a “race against time” to rescue flood victims.
The torrential downpours have caused flash flooding and landslides across central and western Japan, prompting evacuation orders for more than two million people.
The rain has completely blanketed some villages, forcing desperate residents to take shelter on their rooftops with flood water swirling below as they wait for rescue.
The meteorological agency issued its highest level alert for two new regions yesterday, before lifting them after rains began subsiding later in the day.
In the town of Mihara, in the south of the Hiroshima region, roads were transformed into muddy flowing rivers, with dirt piled up on either side as flood water gushed around the wheels of stranded cars.
“The area became an ocean,” said 82-year-old Nobue Kakumoto, a long-time resident. “I’m worried because I have no idea how long it will stay like this.”
Several dozen residents descended into the village to inspect the damage after spending the night in a tiny shelter on higher ground.
In the town of Saka, also in Hiroshima prefecture, Eiichi Tsuiki, a 69-year-old oyster farmer, evacuated to the top floor of his house as rising waters washed away cars outside.
“I’ve lived here for 40 years ... I’ve never seen this before,” he told AFP.
In western Okayama prefecture, rescue operations were underway to evacuate several hundred people including children and the elderly from a hospital, some by helicopter.
“Around 1 000 people were seeking rescue by the morning, but we don’t yet have a complete picture of the disaster, which is enormous,” Mutsunari Imawaka, a disaster spokesperson for the prefecture said. – AFP