20,000 remain isolated in Japan
Officials send food and water to flooded areas by helicopter and boat
With the damage from recordbreaking torrential rains continuing to spread in western Japan, more than 20,000 people remain stranded in Hiroshima, Ehime and Kochi prefectures on Wednesday, as local roads have been cut off or closed because of landslides, among other reasons.
As of noon on Wednesday, 169 people had died in 12 prefectures and 79 people were missing in seven prefectures, according to information com- piled by the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Local governments are transporting food and water to isolated areas by helicopter and boat. However, completing restoration work and returning afflicted areas to normal is expected to take longer than initially thought.
According to data compiled by Hiroshima, Ehime and Kochi prefectures as of Tuesday afternoon, those stranded due to severed roads included about 20,000 people in about 10,400 households in Kure and Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture; about 75 people in about 40 households in municipalities including Seiyo and Iyo in Ehime Prefecture; and about 230 people in about 150 households in municipalities including Aki and Otoyo in Kochi Prefecture. The Okayama prefectural government had not yet confirmed official figures.
The surface of a prefectural road in the town of Otoyo leading to three communities deep in the mountains collapsed, cutting off 58 people in 39 households. In one of the communities, residents had no electricity. Local government officials and others delivered food and water to the residents on foot. It will take at least two weeks to restore the road, according to the local government. In Kure, where almost all of the isolated areas in Hiroshi- ma Prefecture were located, the city government delivered food and water by boat to residents in the Yasuura district and other areas, with support from the Maritime Self-Defense Force and other entities.
In Seiyo, as roads were cut off by landslides, 71 people in 38 households in two communities were isolated.
According to data compiled by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency as of Tuesday evening, at least 386 evacuation centres had opened and 8,049 people had been evacuated in15 prefectures. The number has been going down as electricity and other infrastructure are restored.