Thousands of rescuers deployed
3 dead, dozens missing
TOKYO (AFP) — Disastrous floods have left three dead and dozens missing in eastern Japan, authorities said yesterday as thousands of rescuers were deployed to evacuate trapped residents from an inundated city north of Tokyo.
The heaviest rain in decades continued to pound the country, threatening to worsen conditions in the wake of Typhoon Etau, which smashed through Japan earlier this week bringing strong winds and travel chaos.
At least 25 people, including a pair of eight- year- old children are missing in disasterJoso city, public broadcaster NHK said, quoting officials in the area which lies about 60 kilometers outside Tokyo.
The community of 65,000 residents was hammered Thursday when a levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area that reportedly spans 32 square kilometers and includes 6,500 homes.
Dramatic aerial footage showed whole houses being swept away by raging torrents in scenes eerily reminiscent of the devastating tsunami that crushed Japan’s northeast coast four years ago.
Desperate Joso residents waved towels as they stood on balconies trying to summon help, while military dinghies ferried dozens of people to safety, and helicopters plucked others from rooftops.
” That was the first time I’ve seen the levee burst at the Kinugawa river,” an elderly man told AFP near a shelter in Joso.
Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said some 5,800 troops, police and firefighters were dispatched early yesterday to flooded areas where rescuers had worked through the night.
”The government is making the utmost effort, mobilizing police, firefighters and the Self-Defense Forces, to rescue people as quickly as possible,” Suga said in Tokyo.
Television footage at daybreak from Joso, located in Ibaraki prefecture, showed city residents sloshing through knee-deep water to reach evacuation shelters.
The area has been hit by power outages and blackouts. Another river in Miyagi prefecture, north of Ibaraki, burst its banks and flooded a populated area but many residents had already been evacuated, reports said.
In Kanuma City, north of Joso, a 63-year-old woman was killed after being swallowed by landslides triggered by the heavy rain, while a 48-year-old woman was also found dead in Miyagi, officials said.
The third victim — a man in his 20s — was found in Tochigi prefecture, officials said.
Automaker Toyota said it has temporarily shut three production plants in affected areas for employee safety reasons and would decide on a restart next week.