Japan confirms 20 deaths from flood, warns of more heavy rain, landslides
Not less than 20 deaths have been recorded after a heavy flood rocked Kyushu island of Japan on Saturday July 4, 2020.
After the Saturday deadly deluge in the Kumamoto prefecture, the worst natural disaster after the Typhoon Hagibis that claimed more than 90 lives last year in October, more heavy rain has been forecast.
While addressing disaster response task force, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, requested that rescue operation be set up and missing people be sought.
“Nothing is more important than human lives. Please make utmost effort through the night to search for missing people,” said Abe.
In a broadcast by a Japanese television, images of overturned cars were seen, people clearing and shoveling mud from their home, while people stranded in the flood were rescued in boats by the military.
A rescued woman recounts her ordeal saying the flood has cost her and others access to electricity and water.
“We had no electricity and no running water,” she said.
Also seen in the TV footage was a once-a-gymnasium evacuation center equipped with face masks, disinfectants and thermometers to curtail spread of Covid-19.
People have been warned to be at alert as more rain is predicted by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
“From this evening on, extremely heavy rains with thunder are expected in southern as well as northern Kyushu,” said the agency.
The agency specifically stated that the tendency of experiencing another landslides and rain is high.
“The rainfall so far has already loosened the ground. There is a high chance of landslides occurring, even without much additional rain,” it added.
