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Two dead as Japan orders 870,000 to flee heavy rains
TOKYO, Aug 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Two people were confirmed dead on
Wednesday as heavy rains pounded southwest Japan, prompting flood and
landslide warnings and orders for 870,000 people to seek safety.
More than a million more people were advised to leave their homes after the
country’s weather agency raised the alert to its highest level for parts of
northern Kyushu.
The emergency warning is issued “if there is a significant likelihood of
catastrophes”.
Officials confirmed two deaths, one in western Saga prefecture where a man
was found in a car that had been swept away. A second man died in Fukuoka as
he tried to escape from a car trapped in rising floodwaters.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said a third person, in Saga, was in a
state of “cardiorespiratory arrest” — a term usually employed by Japanese
officials to indicate a person’s death before it is officially confirmed by a
doctor.
“There are many reports of damage in different areas due to flooding of
rivers, landslides, and submerged houses, and there is a possibility of
serious damage occurring in the coming hours,” Suga added.
Evacuation orders and advisories issued by local authorities are not
mandatory, although officials urge residents to heed them.
For those leaving after such warnings, government shelters are available,
and some choose to stay with friends and family as well.
The fire and disaster management agency said it had already received
multiple reports of flooded houses in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures.
“We are seeing unprecedented levels of heavy rains in cities where we
issued special warnings,” a spokesman for the Japan Meteorological Agency
told reporters.
“It is a situation where you should do your best to protect your lives,”
weather agency official Yasushi Kajiwara said.
He also urged those living in areas currently under evacuation advisories
to act quickly.
The weather agency issued its highest warning for heavy rain early morning,
before downgrading it mid-afternoon.
MORE/SSS/1645 hrs
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Still, the agency said heavy rain was likely to continue in western Japan,
with high risks of landslides and flooding.
– ‘Like a sea’ –
In Saga, a mother wearing a life vest in a rescue boat told public
broadcaster NHK she had been saved from the floodwaters.
“I was so scared as I have a little child. I’m worried there could be worse
damage because there’s an ongoing power outage,” she said.
Elsewhere, a man in a shelter in Saga said he was sleeping as the
floodwater entered his home.
“When I woke up, water surged to my feet,” he told NHK. “I’ve never seen
anything like this. It’s important to evacuate early.”
The JMA’s emergency warnings affect areas in Saga, Fukuoka and Nagasaki,
where the severe weather has also disrupted transport, forcing the suspension
of some train services and some road closures.
Television footage showed rivers swollen by the rain and parked cars
sitting in muddy brown water nearly up to the vehicles’ roofs.
Small landslides have already been reported.
At a station in Saga, stranded passengers sat on benches with water around
their ankles.
A woman living near an overflowing river said she had been woken by the
sound of heavy rain and a warning alarm on her phone indicating a disaster
alert.
“This is very rare. Rice fields and other places are flooded. It’s like a
sea,” she told NHK.
Japanese authorities regularly urge people to take evacuation orders
seriously, particularly after disastrous heavy rains last summer in Japan’s
west killed more than 200 people.
Many of the deaths were blamed on the fact that evacuation orders were
issued too late and some people failed to follow them.
Entire neighbourhoods were buried beneath landslides or submerged in
floodwaters during the disasters.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1646 hrs