Typhoon 19 aftermath !

Main points/Snippets

Cities and towns across the country — including in Nagano, Niigata, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures — were inundated by flood waters after levees failed in the face of record rainfall,forcing many people to abandon submerged homes. The damage could worsen in the coming days as the water levels may rise along flooded rivers.

As Hagibis approached, authorities urged citizens “to take whatever actions necessary to increase your chances of survival.” Residents stocked up on water, food and other supplies, leaving many supermarket shelves empty — something unseen since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Public transportation operators announced plans to suspend services days in advance out of safety concerns and an attempt to prevent chaos at transportation hubs.

“My father stayed at the neighborhood evacuation center the night before, but he went back to his house around 6 a.m. to check for any damage. He was suddenly trapped inside his house by a rush of floodwater and escaped by climbing to the second floor,” said Yusuke Okano, 39, who was waiting for his father to be rescued from his flooded house in the city of Nagano on Sunday morning. “He then called me for help, so I called the rescuers.”

“We bought him a new car recently, but it must be covered in mud now because the first floor of his house is completely filled with water. He said he didn’t have anything to eat, so I hope he will be rescued soon.”

Okano’s father was safely rescued later in the day.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 200,000 households in eastern and central Japan were left without power. Among those, as of 3 p.m. Sunday, about 86,100 households were without power in Chiba Prefecture, which was heavily damaged by Typhoon Faxai just last month. About 52,300 such households in Nagano Prefecture and about 23,500 in Kanagawa Prefecture were also without power.

Train operators gradually resumed services by Sunday afternoon after suspensions on Saturday.

Source & Details

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/13/national/typhoon-hagibis-japan-tokyo/#.XaOzrf-RWaN