Japan flood victims face health risks
Water supply cut off as mercury crosses 30C
OSAKA: A week after torrential rain began to pound western Japan, nearly 7,000 evacuees from floods and mudslides face heightened health and sanitary risks over scorching heat and problems using bathrooms.
At least 619 buildings have been damaged by mudslides, and water supply remained cut off for almost 207,500 households as of yesterday morning, according to government ministries, while temperatures rose above 30C in many parts of the disaster-hit region.
“I am worried my children may get heatstroke,” said Yoko Kitamura, 38, who has taken shelter at an evacuation centre in Hiroshima with her four children.
A shortage of temporary toilets at evacuation centres and people refraining from eating and drinking to avoid using bathrooms frequently have put them at increased risks of dehydration and blood clogging, experts say.
Evacuation centres tend to have only a limited number of temporary toilets and many are squat-style, which children and elderly people often have trouble using.
In past disasters, such toilets have been a source of concern among evacuees, with many children only accustomed to Western-style toilets.
At an evacuation centre in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, Michiko Wakisaka, 69, whose home was hit by a landslide, said she moved from another evacuation centre after finding it only had squat-style toilets she cannot use due to disabilities.
“Everything remains uncertain,” she said.
Another discouraging factor for using toilets is where they are located. Many of them are set up outside, which tends to make people avoid using them at night or during rain.
“It is a problem that is directly linked to people’s health,” said Atsushi Kato, who heads Japan Toilet Labo, a Tokyobased nonprofit group conducting lavatory research.
He said evacuees should have a role in setting rules for toilet use and suggested creating other options such as putting portable toilets over existing toilets that are not functioning and allowing people to use them at night.
In the affected areas, in addition to roughly 73,000 rescuers, some 5,500 volunteer workers have already pitched in and their numbers are expected to grow, according to the government.
Disaster management minister Hachiro Okonogi, at a meeting in Tokyo, warned them against heat.
“We ask them to make careful considerations about protective gear and measures against heatstroke to manage their health,” he said.
To grasp the extent of damage, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Ehime Prefecture yesterday following a trip to Okayama on Wednesday. He offered silent prayers at the site and met local people affected by the disaster.
“Please take care of yourself as it is hot,” he told a local woman after hearing her account of flooding.
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii is expected to visit Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime prefectures from today through till Monday, while Internal Affairs Minister Seiko Noda will travel to Gifu — a central Japan prefecture also hit by the downpour — today.