13h37 – Storms in Japan: 57 dead and a difficult fight against water

Japanese rescuers were fighting on Sunday to save those stranded by the dramatic consequences of unusually heavy rains that continue to rage in parts of western Japan and have killed at least 57 people, according to an official report

"Relief, saving lives and evacuations are a race against the clock," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during a crisis meeting in Tokyo with key ministers, while the spokesman Government also reported numerous disappearances of people.

The NHK public channel reported an even greater death toll of 75 dead and 61 missing.

A hundred people in the most affected areas were injured According to the Fire and Natural Disaster Management Agency,

The maximum state of alert has been lifted everywhere, but lower level views are maintained. [19659002] In the Mihara locality near Hiroshima, the rain stopped on Sunday afternoon and residents began to return after spending the night in a shelter or other safer place than their home. They remain extinct in the face of the scale of the disaster.

Masanori Hiramoto, 68, has no say in the state of his home. "I do not even know where to begin cleaning," told AFP this farmer of a part of this rice region.

The roads are muddy rivers, revealing here and there, half drowned, abandoned vehicles

"This area has been transformed into an ocean, I worry because I do not know how much it will stay that way, "Nobue Kakumoto, an 82-year-old man, was grieving.

In Saka, another metropolitan area of ​​Hiroshima Prefecture, Eiichi Tsuiki, 69, can not believe it:" I live here for 40 years, I've never seen that, "he told AFP.

The surrounding houses were left in a panic. Rescuers are busy trying to clear pbadages on tracks blocked by mudslides.

"Relief operations are maintained 24 hours a day. We are also trying to restore critical infrastructure such as water and gas," said Yoshihide Fujitani, a disaster management officer for the Gaza Strip. Hiroshima Prefecture.

At nightfall, some 80 people were still trapped in a hospital in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, while water from a nearby river swept through the area. [19659002Rescuershoistedsomeoftherefugeesinthefacilitywhileotherssomeoftheminwheelchairswereevacuatedbyboat

– Record rainfall –

Mutsunari Imawaka, a spokesman for the office of Okayama Prefecture, told AFP that the situation was very difficult to badess: "the disaster is huge and we are working hard to save as many lives as possible". [196] 59002] "This is an abnormal situation in the face of imminent danger, do not approach the areas at risk, be vigilant," insisted an official of the meteorological agency, Yasushi Kajiwara, during a press briefing. 19659002] The record rainfall recorded over several days in several regions has led to exceptional floods, landslides and floods, trapping many inhabitants despite evacuation orders given to more than two million people, instructions not always respected because It is sometimes already impossible or too dangerous to move.

Some 54,000 firefighters, police and military members of the Self-Defense Forces have been deployed in the field, "doing their utmost to save lives," Abe said. face major difficulties in view of the inaccessibility of certain places in the countryside.

Rescue services tried everywhere to save lives refugees on the roofs of their houses largely under water. Television pictures showed them waving white rags to be spotted. Helicopters, boats and other vehicles were mobilized

There were also many who called for help on social networks

And the government set up Sunday a "headquarters disaster management".

– Stopped factories –

It was still difficult to count the landslides, roads and bridges that were ransacked or even lost. Thick mudflats were sweeping over completely drowned neighborhoods, according to television images.

Precipitation exceeded one meter in a hundred hours in several regions, the meteorological agency estimating that such levels are only reached rarely in several decades.

Factories (Panasonic, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda) were forced to stop their production lines in the region as well as services like Amazon.

Japan is often crossed by important rainy fronts in addition to sometimes fatal typhoons that sweep it regularly in summer

Every year, deadly landslides are recorded in the archipelago. Some 72 deaths were reported in 2014 in the Hiroshima area and about 15 people died in the north in 2016 after pbading a typhoon.

bur-hih-si-kap / mct