Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday visited flood-stricken parts of the country, as the death toll from the worst weather disaster in 36 years reached 176, and health worries increased amid scorching heat and the threat of new floods.
Torrential rain last week unleashed floods and landslides in western Japan, bringing death and destruction in particular to neighborhoods built decades ago near steep slopes.
At least 176 people were killed with dozens missing, the government said.
Photo: Reuters / Kyodo
Abe, who canceled an overseas trip to deal with the disaster, was criticized after a photograph posted on Twitter showed Abe and Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera at a party with lawmakers just as the rains intensified.
After observing the damage from a helicopter flying over Okayama, one of the hardest-hit areas, Abe visited a crowded evacuation center. He crouched down on the floor to speak with people, many of them elderly, and asked about their health. He clasped one man’s hands as they spoke.
Abe’s government on Tuesday pledged an initial US$4 billion toward recovery, as well as a later special budget if needed.
Photo: Reuters / Peace Winds Japan
Rescuers faced a scorching sun as they combed through heaps of wood and thickly caked mud in a grim search for bodies, helped by sniffer dogs. In some cases, only the foundation of houses remained as rescuers cut through debris with chain saws.
“My younger brother still hasn’t been found. We in the family are coming here to wait in shifts,” a woman told Japan Broadcasting Corp as she watched over the ruins left by a landslide.
With temperatures of 33°C or higher predicted for the devastated areas in Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures, attention turned to preventing heatstroke among rescue workers and in evacuation centers where thousands of people sought shelter.
People sat cross-legged on thin mats on a gymnasium floor in one center, plastic bags of belongings piled around them and bedding folded off to the side. Portable fans turned slowly as children cried.
Officials turned to social media to warn of the additional danger of food-borne illnesses, urging people to wash their hands and take other measures against food poisoning.
Evacuation orders were issued for 25 households in the city of Fukuyama after cracks were found in a reservoir.
Water accumulating behind piles of debris blocking rivers also posed a danger after a swollen river rushed into a Fukuyama residential area on Monday, prompting more evacuation orders.
Intensifying heat was expected to trigger more thunderstorms yesterday, with authorities saying that new landslides could be set off on mountainsides saturated with water.
Japanese media yesterday focused on the timing of evacuation orders issued in the hard-hit Mabi District of Kurashiki just minutes before a levee broke and water poured into the residential area.
A number of the dead in Mabi were found in their homes, suggesting that they did not have enough time to flee, media reports said.
With questions mounting about why the rains were so deadly, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga 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.”
Additional reporting by AFP
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS