DEADLY TOLL IN JAPAN’S FLOODS
TOKYO: Tens of thousands of rescue workers in Japan on Monday combed through the wreckage of houses shattered by deadly floods and landslides in a desperate search for survivors as the death toll rose and more torrential rain loomed.
At least 37 people are feared dead after record rains lashed areas of western Japan in the early hours of Saturday, causing rivers to break banks and flooding low-lying regions.
“Rescue workers are tirelessly continuing the search this morning,” a spokesman for the western Kumamoto prefecture told AFP, with at least 13 people still missing.
Although the rain has subsided from its peak, the floods washed away roads and bridges, leaving many in isolated communities cut off.
A local firefighter in the western region of Kagoshima said they had deployed boats to rescue 11 people but that conditions were making it hard to reach some of the people stranded.
“Calls came from people telling us that they wanted to flee their home but they could not do it on their own,” he said. “Some roads are submerged and you cannot drive through them.”
In one of the hardest-hit areas, residents spelled the words “rice, water, SOS” on the ground, while others waved towels and called for rescue and relief goods.
At a nursing home for the elderly, 14 people were feared dead when water from a nearby river inundated the ground floor, leaving those in wheelchairs unable to reach higher ground.
Emergency services, aided by locals in rafts, rescued about 50 staff and residents from the facility, bringing them to safety by boat.
Heavy rain is expected to continue through Tuesday afternoon and the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a non-compulsory evacuation order for hundreds of thousands of residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima Prefecture.
Up to 250mm of rain is expected in the 24-hour period through Tuesday morning in the southern part of Kyushu Island, which includes areas hit hard by the flooding, the agency said.
Evacuation efforts are being hampered by fears of spreading the coronavirus, which has claimed almost 1000 victims in Japan, with close to 20,000 cases.
Partitions have been set up at evacuation centres to keep distance between families and evacuees are made to wash their hands frequently, sanitise and wear face masks.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said 19 people had been confirmed dead from the floods while a further 18 were in a state of “cardio-respiratory arrest” – a term often used in Japan before a doctor certifies death.