Japan: the rainfall record reaches 100 and they are still looking for survivors

KUMANO, Japan (AFP) .- In western Japan, rescuers search for missing people because of torrential rains in mud-covered neighborhoods and among the rubble of houses. Because of the rains, 100 people died. This balance could worsen as the search for missing persons progresses.

This is one of the worst disasters of this type in recent years in Japan, with a number of victims already exceeding that of landslides. of 2014 in Hiroshima, with 74 deaths. Some factories (such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi Motors and Mazda) have had to stop production in the region, as well as services such as Amazon. Japan is often crossed by important rainy fronts and typhoons, sometimes fatal, in summer. Yesterday, the state of maximum vigilance had been lifted, but the warnings of the lower levels were maintained.

When the burning sun began to dry mud, rescuers, aided by construction equipment, shovels and chainsaws, searched for traces of a dozen missing people "We remove rubble where we can we are also removing the destroyed houses, otherwise it is impossible to reach the potential survivors trapped, "explains a soldier.

"I would have liked that my sister and her family had already been evacuated" Kosuke Kiyohara in front of the destroyed house of her relatives, who are now missing. "I told my family to prepare for the worst," he confessed.

Back in their homes when the rain dissipated, locals began to realize the magnitude of the disaster: whole neighborhoods flooded, vehicles in the middle Craters formed on completely destroyed roads, huge floods of mud and bridges destroyed, among other scenes of devastation.

"The rescuers moved yesterday on the boats because of the extent of the floods, but the water is gradually being withdrawn today and if the level is low enough they will be able to access the areas badly hit by the road or on foot, "said a telephone spokesperson from the Okayama Prefecture's disaster management office. "Today, it is not raining, but we must remain vigilant against floods of mud," he insisted.

"Relief operations are maintained 24 hours a day," said Yoshihide Fujitani, director of disaster management. Hiroshima "We are also taking care of evacuees and trying to recover vital infrastructure such as the water and gas network," Fujitani said. "We are doing everything we can."

"This is an abnormal situation in the face of imminent danger, do not approach risk areas, stay tuned", insisted a manager of the Yasushi Meteorological Agency. Kajiwara, addressing the press

Precipitation between Friday and Sunday reached record levels in 93 observation points of 14 prefectures. Some 54,000 firefighters, police and military members of the Self-Defense Forces have deployed on the ground, "doing everything they can to save lives," said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Up to 5 million people have received evacuation orders. but the slogan was not mandatory and in some occasions, when the water rose very quickly, it might be more risky to try to leave than to take refuge in a terrace.