Torrential rains kill at least 44 people and 1.6 million evacuees

Torrential rains that have plagued western Japan over the last four days, causing floods and landslides, have left at least 44 dead and 21 missing, according to authorities on Sunday (July 8th), who ordered evacuation of more than 2 million people, the public channel NHK evoking a death toll of 51 dead and 44 missing.

The record rainfall recorded for several days in several regions, including those of Ehime, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Kochi, Gifu or Okayama, caused exceptional floods, landslides and floods, trapping many inhabitants despite evacuation orders not always respected because it is sometimes already impo can not move. The prefectures of Ehime and Hiroshima would have the heaviest record with at least 33 deaths according to figures from the Fire and Natural Disaster Management Agency.

Some 48,000 firefighters, police and soldiers of the Self-Defense Forces were deployed on the ground, but they face major difficulties given the inaccessibility of some places in the countryside. Relief services were trying to rescue refugee residents on the roofs of their homes largely underwater. Television pictures showed them waving white rags to be spotted. Helicopters, boats and other vehicles were mobilized

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the situation "extremely serious" and ordered the deployment of all possible means to save lives. He met on Saturday morning with the main ministers concerned

Maximum warning

The meteorological agency has placed several regions on maximum alert and warned of the high risk of major damage. "Maximum vigilance is required" repeat meteorologists. Dozens of houses have been completely or partially destroyed and thousands invaded by the water.

It was still difficult to count the landslides, roads and bridges ransacked or even taken away. Thick muddy waves swept entire neighborhoods completely drowned, according to television images.

Precipitation exceeded one meter in a hundred hours in several regions, the meteorological agency estimating that such levels are reached only rarely in several decades. She called the rains of "terrible" and estimated that they would last until Sunday.

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                100,000 evacuees to Japan after torrential rains
    

Japan is often crossed by important rainy fronts in addition to the sometimes deadly typhoons that sweep it regularly in summer. Every year, deadly landslides are recorded in the archipelago. Some 72 people were reported dead in Hiroshima in 2014, and some 15 people died in the north in 2016 after a typhoon.