More than a hundred dead in the worst rains for decades in Japan

Record rains since Thursday in the southern, central and western parts of the Nipn Archipelago have caused severe damage to thousands of homes and infrastructure, causing Evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

The number of fatalities is increasing hour by hour as search and rescue work progresses and could affect the two hundred, placing it among the largest disasters caused by a meteorological phenomenon during last two decades.

Currently, there are 112 fatal casualties, 3 critically injured and 78 missing, most in prefectures of Hiroshima (west) and Okayama and Ehime (southwest), according to latest data provided by local authorities and compiled by the NHK public channel

The government confirmed today that the deadly victims are already over a hundred, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has canceled his planned visit to Europe and the Middle East. This week in order to personally coordinate the tasks of helping the victims and visit the affected areas, said his spokesman.

About 73,000 soldiers of the self-defense forces (army), police and firefighters continue today looking for the missing and rescuing people who have taken refuge in the roofs of flooded buildings, tasks which also involved 73 helicopters and dozens of ships

Most of the dead and missing were washed away by floods or overflows. of levees, or trapped in landslides and landslides caused by rainfall, which reached 1,600 millimeters accumulated in some points, the highest level since 1976.

Japanese authorities came to recommend the evacuation of 5.9 million citizens of 19 prefectures over the weekend, and Sunday, more than 30,000 people spent the night in shelters, according to data of Government

In the city of Mabicho (Okayama), one of the most affected, about 1200 hectares or two thirds of its area were completely flooded in a few hours, which pushed a thousand people to take refuge on the roofs or roofs of the 4,600 houses that were swallowed by water and mud.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has already removed the maximum level of alert in the affected areas, although it keeps warnings of floods and landslides in several prefectures

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism uses drainage trucks to extract water from flooded areas, although this task may last for two weeks

. dozens of railway lines and the closure of many roads, interruptions that continue during the day today.

Similarly, the disaster affected companies such as motor vehicles M Azda, Toyota and Mitsubishi or Panasonic technology, which were forced to suspend production in several of its plants, and changed the logistics network of the company. Amazon digital commerce giant and other Japanese carriers.

The weather phenomenon is one of the most devastating to remember in a country where extreme weather conditions are common, especially in low summer rains and typhoons.

More than 70 people died in landslides caused by torrential rains in Hiroshima. 2014, while the pbadage of typhoons Haikui (2012) and Ewiniar (2006) by the Okinawa archipelago left, respectively, 105 and 141 dead.

Photo: EFE