19 people missing after landslide in Japan

A landslide buried several houses this Saturday in central Japan, 19 people are missing after the event.

The collapse came after several days of heavy rains. According to the images disseminated by the media of this country, a torrent of mud washed away some houses and buried others in the coastal town of Atami, where the inhabitants fled trying to take refuge.

“The fate of 19 people is unknown” after the landslide, said a Shizuoka prefecture official in charge of disaster situations.

“I heard a terrible noise and saw a wall of mud come down, as some workers urged people to evacuate. I also ran to be safe at height “ a witness related to the public broadcaster NHK. “When I returned, the houses and cars were gone (…)” added.

The landslide occurred at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday. according to the municipal official of Atami, who added that “several houses were washed away”. The provincial government has requested military aid for the rescue missions, the official said.

Some 2,800 homes remain without electricity, according to the electricity company Tepco.

In 2018, more than 200 people died after devastating flooding in western Japan. In 2020, flooding killed dozens of people amid the coronavirus pandemic, making rescue efforts more difficult.

Atami, located in rural Shizuoka, is about 90 km from the capital, Tokyo, and is known for its hot springs.

THE CARABES ON ALERT

On the other side of the world, the rains have also triggered alerts in several countries. Tropical Storm Elsa became a hurricane as it was located about 30 kilometers west-southwest of Barbados with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour., the United States National Hurricane Center (CNH) reported on Friday.

Heavy rains and winds hit Barbados as the hurricane moved towards islands like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which are struggling to recover from recent volcanic eruptions. Elsa’s Eye was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of San Vicente and was moving west-northwest at 44 km / h (28 mph).

Depending on the trajectory planned for this climatic phenomenon, his journey will lead him to make an impression in Miami in the first days of next week. Before that, islands like Cuba, Puerto Rico and others in the Caribbean are compromised.

The Havana authorities warned this Thursday against the possible heavy and intense rains that would accompany Elsa, which is currently advancing in the Caribbean seas and, according to forecasts, could reach the eastern region of the island by the weekend.

These conditions will gradually transfer to the central and western regions of the Caribbean country, according to an “early warning notice” released today by the Cuban Civil Defense, which calls on the population to pay attention to its directives and the reports of the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet).

The note recalls the complexity of the current epidemiological situation due to covid-19 and calls for clarifying the insurance plans provided to reduce the effects of natural disasters, which include evacuations, protection of economic resources, collection of agricultural products, as well as actions on increasing hydrometeorological monitoring, among others.

(With information from AFP)