Floods, radiation fears rock Japan
TENS of thousands of people were ordered to flee their homes across Japan yesterday as heavy rain pounded the country, sending radiation-tainted waters into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Dozens of people were trapped in buildings and several were missing in the wake of torrential rains.
Military helicopters plucked stranded residents from roofs after waters surged over a wide area when a river burst its banks, swamping a city of 65 000 people.
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 in 2011.
No one had so far been confirmed dead last night, but there were reports of people missing, including in landslides that buried buildings.
Television pictures from Joso, a city northeast of Tokyo, showed desperate residents waving towels as they stood on balconies trying to summon assistance.
More than 100 000 people were ordered to leave their homes after up to 600mm fell in some places.
“I’ve never seen the Kinugawa River burst its banks,” Joso resident Akira Yoshihara, 63, said.
While his house was on higher ground he feared the water would reach it. The floods brought confusion, and several people are reportedly missing – including one in Joso – but authorities said they were unable to confirm the total number unaccounted for.
By evening, at least 260 people had been rescued from houses in Joso City and surrounding areas.
But an estimated 200 people were still trapped in their homes or other buildings, including a day care centre and an old age home.
Joso is about 60km outside Tokyo, which has also been hit by flooding.
The rains came in the wake of Typhoon Etau, which tore through Japan on Wednesday, bringing strong winds and causing travel chaos.
Flooding complicated a contaminated water problem at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, where the site’s drainage pumps were overwhelmed, sending radiation-tainted water into the ocean, a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power said.
“This is a scale of downpour that we have not experienced before,” forecaster Takuya Deshimaru told an emergency press conference.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government was on high alert, and vowed to put the highest priority on saving people’s lives.
More than 18 000 people were killed in the tsunami of 2011.