Japan braces for more torrential rain after 16 killed
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| Japan Self-Defense Forces and police officers handle an inflatable boat to join rescue operations at a nursing home following heavy rain in Kuma village, Kumamoto prefecture, on July 5, 2020. (AFP) |
Saturday's unprecedented rains in the Kumamoto prefecture of central Kyushu unleashed floods and landslides.
Television broadcast images of overturned cars, people shoveling mud from their homes and the military rescuing stranded residents in boats.
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| An aerial view shows flood-hit area in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture on July 4, 2020. (AFP) |
"We had no electricity and no running water," one rescued woman told the broadcaster. "It was tough."
The Japan Meteorological Agency urged people to stay vigilant, as more rains are predicted.
"From this evening on, extremely heavy rains with thunder are expected in southern as well as northern Kyushu," an agency official told Reuters.
"The rainfall so far has already loosened the ground. There is a high chance of landslides occurring, even without much additional rain."
Japan floods leave many dead in nursing homes
Rescue helicopters plucked more people from their homes in the Kumamoto region. Up to 10,000 defence troops, the coast guard and fire brigades are taking part in the operation.
Large areas along the Kuma River were swallowed by floodwaters with many houses, buildings and vehicles submerged almost up to their roofs.
Mudslides smashed into houses, sending people atop rooftops waiving at rescuers.
At a flooded elderly care home in Kuma Village, 14 residents were presumed dead after rescuers reached them on Saturday, officials said. Three others had hypothermia.
The rescue continued on Sunday for dozens of other residents and caregivers who were still at the riverside care facility Senjuen, where about 60 people were trapped when floodwaters and mud gushed in, officials said.
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| Firefighters unload the relief supplies from a Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopter following heavy rain in Kuma village, Kumamoto prefecture, on July 5, 2020. (AFP) |
In Hitoyoshi City, the deluge poured into houses near the main train station. "The water rose to the second floor so fast and I just couldn’t stop shivering,” a 55-year-old woman who was visiting her relatives told the Asahi newspaper.
She and her relatives ran upstairs, swam out of the window and eventually took refuge on the roof to wait for their rescue.
75,000 told to evacuate
More than 75,000 residents in the prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima were urged to evacuate following pounding rains on Friday evening and into Saturday. The evacuation was not mandatory and many people opted to stay home because of concerns over catching the coronavirus, even though officials say shelters are adequately equipped with partitions and other safety measures.
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| Members of Japan's Self-Defence Forces work at the site of a landslide caused by heavy rain in Ashikita, Kumamoto prefecture on July 4, 2020. (AFP) |
Flooding also cut off power and communication lines, further delaying the search and rescue. Nearly 6,000 homes in Kumamoto were still without electricity Sunday, according to the Kyushu Electric Power Co.
The rainfall that exceeded 100 millimeters (4 inches) per hour has since subsided but the Japan Meteorological Agency has kept mudslide warnings in place across Kumamoto.
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