VOLUNTEERS ARRIVE IN WESTERN JAPAN
>> OSAKA: Thousands of volunteers were yesterday expected to start arriving in western Japan regions hit by the country’s worst rain disaster in decades to help residents clean up.
Prefectural governments in hard-hit Ehime, Hiroshima and Okayama expect some 18,000 volunteers from across the country to help flood victims in their cleanup efforts during the threeday weekend.
About 40 volunteer management centres have been set up in those three prefectures, according to the Japan National Council of Social Welfare.
The torrential rains since around July 6 caused extensive floods and landslides, leaving over 200 dead and some 40 still missing.
Nationwide, over 160 homes were destroyed and about 700 damaged among more than 25,600 that were flooded in 31 of the country’s 47 prefectures, the internal affairs ministry said. As of Friday afternoon, 5,800 people are still unable to return to their homes, it said.
Many local governments, while continuing work to restore transportation infrastructure, have struggled to secure enough food and accommodation to receive disaster volunteers.
The city of Kurashiki in Okayama, one of the hardest-hit regions, only accepted volunteers from among its own residents initially.
The city has secured a large parking area in a coastal area and began accepting volunteers from outside the city yesterday.
“Local officials are too busy with relief operations such as managing evacuation shelters to join recovery efforts. We want to get as much help as possible,” said one prefectural government official.
Volunteers will also have to cope with a heatwave, with temperatures already topping 30C across Japan yesterday.