7 Killed as Deadly Floods Hit Northern Japan
- EPA
Japan, VIVA – The death toll from record levels of rainfall that hit the northern part of Japan’s Noto peninsula has risen to seven, authorities said on Monday.
Deadly flooding and landslides due to torrential rains have left a trail of destruction in Ishikawa prefecture, with authorities confirming one more death on Monday in the city of Wajima.
In all, six of those killed were in the city of Wajima and one was in the city of Suzu where a house collapsed.
More than 540mm of rainfall has been recorded in Wajima in just over 72 hours – the heaviest continuous rain since data became available, a quoted from the Independent.
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- VIVA.co.id/Natania Longdong
The massive rainfall, followed by landslides and flooding, in the Noto peninsula comes as the region makes a fragile recovery from a devastating 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day. The quake destroyed buildings and triggered tsunami waves and a major fire. At least 374 people lost their lives.
The flooding from the recent rainfall has overwhelmed emergency shelters housing victims of the 1 January earthquake, NHK Japan reported.
As of Monday afternoon, 3,700 households in Ishikawa prefecture were still without power, according to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company.
According to Kyodo news agency, over 100 communities have been isolated due to blocked roads after nearly two dozen rivers overflowed.
The search for those missing is ongoing. An unnamed man who was searching for his daughter told Kyodo: “My only wish is for her to be found, even if she is not alive. I want to hug her.”
“It’s difficult to bring heavy machinery as some roads are cut off or narrowed. We are searching for survivors," Yamamoto Yasushi, a police officer from Aichi prefecture, said.
Some residents living in temporary shelters are now being forced to evacuate again. Nearly all of the 140 temporary houses in central Wajima city were flooded by an overflowing river. These shelters had been built for those impacted by the New Year’s Day disaster.
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