Tokyo: Helicopters, boats and thousands of troops were deployed across Japan to rescue people stranded in flooded homes on Sunday as the death toll from a ferocious typhoon climbed to at least 33 – with others still missing. One woman fell to her death as she was being transferred to a rescue helicopter.

Bullet trains sit submerged in muddy waters in Nagano, central Japan on Sunday.Credit:Kyodo News via AP

Department officials held a news conference to apologise, bowing deeply and long, according to Japanese custom. They acknowledged the woman had not been strapped in properly.

The government's Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which tends to be conservative in its counts, said late on Sunday that 14 people ad died, 11 were missing and 187 were injured as a result of the typhoon. It said 1283 homes were flooded and 517 were damaged, partially or totally.

Japanese media tallies were higher. Kyodo News agency reported that 33 people died and 19 were still missing.

"The major typhoon has caused immense damage far and wide in eastern Japan," government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Empty shelves at a DIY shop in Yokohama on Friday after residents had started preparing for the worst.Credit:Kyodo News via AP

News footage showed a rescue helicopter hovering in a flooded area in Nagano prefecture where an embankment of the Chikuma River broke, and streams of water were continuing to spread over residential areas. The chopper plucked those stranded on the second floor of a home submerged in muddy waters.

Aerial footage showed tractors at work trying to control the flooding and several people on a rooftop, with one waving a white cloth to get the attention of a helicopter. Nearby was a child's school bag. In another part of Nagano, rows of bullet trains, parked in a facility, were sitting in a pool of water.

A section of the city of Date in Fukushima prefecture was also flooded, with only rooftops of residential homes visible in some areas, and rescuers paddled in boats to get people out. Parts of nearby Miyagi prefecture were also underwater.

The Tama River, which runs by Tokyo, overflowed its banks, flooding homes and other buildings in the area.

Among the reported deaths were those whose homes were buried in landslides. Other fatalities included people who got swept away by raging rivers.

People start cleaning up in Marumori, Miyagi Prefecture on Sunday.Credit:AP

A Panama-registered cargo ship was found sunk in waters near Tokyo on Sunday after authorities lost track of it during Hagibis, the transport ministry said. Local media reported that at least five of the 12 crew were killed.

The Yomiuri newspaper said four crew were rescued and three were still missing. The crew were from Myanmar, China and Vietnam, the ministry said.

The ship had been anchored off the coast of Kawasaki city, south of Tokyo, but contact was lost on Saturday.

Early on Sunday, government spokesman Suga said that some 376,000 homes were without electricity, and that 14,000 lacked running water.

Tokyo Electric Power Co said late on Sunday that more than 66,000 homes were still without power. Tohoku Electric Co said 5600 homes still lacked electricity in the northern prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima. Both utilities said they were working to restore power.

Several train services in the Tokyo area resumed early in the morning, while others restarted later.

Ruling party politician Fumio Kishida said the government would do its utmost in rescue operations, including making sure that those who moved to shelters were taken care of.

A street in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, on Sunday.Credit:AP

He acknowledged that Japan's power grids need to be strengthened so people in disaster areas can rely on timely information.

"So many risks remain, and it is a reality that we must stay on guard," Kishida said on news talk show on NHK. "We must do our utmost. In these times, a disaster can hit any time."

The Rugby World Cup match between Namibia and Canada, scheduled for Sunday in Kamaishi, in northern Japan, was cancelled as a precautionary measure, but Japan played Scotland as scheduled Sunday evening, securing a win that was expected to raise spirits across these devastated isles. Matches on Saturday had been cancelled. Stores and amusement parks had also closed, and some Tokyo stores remained closed on Sunday.

As the typhoon bore down on Saturday with heavy rain and strong winds, the usually crowded train stations and bustling streets of Tokyo were deserted. Life was returning to normal on Sunday, and flights that had been grounded from Tokyo airports were gradually being resumed.

Evacuation centres had been set up in coastal towns, with tens of thousands seeking shelter. Kyodo News agency said evacuation warnings had been issued to more than 6 million people.

The typhoon disrupted a three-day weekend in Japan that includes Sports Day on Monday.

The authorities had repeatedly warned that Hagibis was on par with a typhoon that wreaked havoc on the Tokyo region in 1958, but the safety infrastructure that Japan's modernisation has brought was apparent. The typhoon six decades ago left more than 1200 people dead and half a million houses flooded.

AP

Source: Read Full Article