Rains in Japan leave 72 dead and challenge rescue teams

Japanese rescuers were fighting against the clock today to rescue people affected by the floods that caused exceptional rains that continue to hit parts of western Japan and left 72 dead, according to a provisional official report.

saving lives and evacuations are in a race against time, "said Shinzo Abe at a crisis meeting in Tokyo with key ministers, while the government spokesman also announced the disappearance of several people The abundant rains at Aki, Hiroshima

The NHK public channel has given an even greater death toll and it is estimated that 56 have disappeared.

A hundred or so inhabitants of the More affected were injured, according to the agency.Fire and Natural Disaster Management

The maximum alert status was noted everywhere, but the warning remains

[19659004] A rescue helicopter works in one of the affected areas after the floods in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture (Japan)

In Mihara town, near Hiroshima, the rain rains Is stopped in the afternoon and the inhabitants began to see the magnitude of the disaster.

Masanori Hiramoto, 68, was dumb when he saw the state of his home. "I do not even know where to begin cleaning," he told AFP in this city where rice grows.

The roads are muddy rivers that allow one or the other to see abandoned vehicles. "This area has become an ocean and I am worried because I do not know how long it will last," said Nobue Kakumoto, an 82-year-old elder in the area

"Operations Yoshihide Fujitani, a disaster management officer in the prefecture of Hiroshima

"We also take care of the evacuees and try to recover vital infrastructure such as the water and gas network . ", Fujitani said.

About 300 people, from babies to elderly people, were also trapped in a hospital in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, where the nearby river flooding has swept the region. "We are facing shortages of water and food," a nurse told NHK by phone (19659004) Relief teams took people out of the hospital by helicopter. others were evacuated by boat.

Mutsunari Imawaka, a spokesman for the office of disaster management in Okayama Prefecture, explained that the situation was very difficult to badess. "The disaster is huge and we are working hard to save as many lives as possible."

"This is an abnormal situation in the face of imminent danger," insisted a meteorological agency official, Yasushi Kajiwara, during a press conference.

A flooded residential area in the city of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture (Japan).

The rains caused exceptional floods, landslides and floods, leaving many people trapped despite local authorities' evacuation orders for more than 2 million people, according to the authorities.

Some 54,000 members of the Fire, Police and Self-Defense Forces (named for the Japanese Army) were deployed to the affected areas, "doing their utmost to save lives", said Mr. Abe, but they are facing great difficulties because of access problems in some parts of the areas.

For their part, the emergency teams tried to save the neighboring refugees on the roofs of their homes

Many asked for help on social networks, by writing their mailing address.

Dozens of houses have been partially or totally destroyed by the waters.

The rains exceeded one meter in 72 hours in several regions. The meteorological agency has estimated that these levels have not been reached for several decades and has qualified these rains as "dire" warnings that they will last until Sunday.

The factories (Panasonic, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda) were forced to stop its production lines in the region as well as service companies like Amazon.

Important rain fronts in addition to typhoons, often fatal, often strike the Japanese archipelago during the summer.