Japan’s prime minister consoles flood survivors as death toll rises
JAPAN’S prime minister met people forced from their homes by devastating rains that have killed at least 179 people, as the government said it would review disaster management plans.
Shinzo Abe, who cancelled a foreign trip planned for this week as the disaster worsened, met some of the thousands of victims still in shelters during a trip to flood-ravaged Okayama.
He made no public comments, speaking briefly and privately with individuals, including an elderly lady who bowed slightly as he approached.
Dozens of people are still missing and the toll from the worst weather-related disaster in Japan in more than three decades is expected to rise.
With questions mounting about why the rains were so deadly, Yoshihide Suga, a government spokesman, said disaster management policies would be re-examined.
“In recent years, we have seen damage from heavy rains that is much worse than in previous years,” he said. “We have to review what the government can do to reduce the risks.”
Rescue efforts are beginning to wind down, nearly a week after the rains began, and hopes that more survivors could be found have faded.
More than 10,000 people are still in shelters across large parts of central and western Japan, including at a school in the town of Kurashiki in Okayama prefecture. Hiroko Fukuda, 40, was there was with her husband, but they had sent her young daughter to stay with relatives after she became so distressed that she stopped eating.
“We can accept losing things like home appliances, but memories …” she said, her voice trailing off. “We can’t get back photos of her at three years old,” she said of her daughter. “It hurts that our memories are gone.”
The town of Fukuyama, in Hiroshima, issued an evacuation order over fears that a small lake could burst its banks. A similar order was issued on Tuesday in the town of Fuchu, also in Hiroshima, after driftwood backed up in a river, causing water to submerge surrounding neighbourhoods.
Government officials have also warned about the possibility of fresh landslides, with the torrential rain loosening earth on hillsides.