Floods Devastate Homes in Japan’s Earthquake-Affected Region;
Published September 24, 2024;
A man searches for his missing 14-year-old daughter among debris washed away by flooding along a river in Wajima, Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, on Monday.
WAJIMA ; Rescuers scoured the debris-strewn banks of a river in central Japan on Monday, looking for victims after heavy flooding and landslides swept away homes, resulting in at least seven fatalities.
The river on the Noto Peninsula, an area still recovering from a devastating earthquake in January, overflowed over the weekend, turning into a muddy torrent that inundated roads and a remote village.
As the skies cleared, police and firefighters from across Japan joined local residents and the father of a missing 14-year-old girl in the search. The death toll has risen to seven, with one person seriously injured and 11 others suffering minor injuries, according to the Ishikawa prefecture's website.
Rain began pouring down on Saturday, with over 540 millimeters recorded in Wajima over a 72-hour period—the heaviest continuous rainfall since records began. This disaster struck while the area was still grappling with recovery efforts from a magnitude-7.5 earthquake on New Year’s Day, which caused widespread destruction, tsunami waves, and significant fires.
Floodwaters also affected emergency housing set up for those displaced by the January 1 earthquake, which claimed at least 374 lives, according to local authorities. “I have to start over, through another cold winter,” said 76-year-old former sushi chef Shoichi Miyakoshi, who lost his wife in a 2007 earthquake.
As of Monday afternoon, 3,600 households were still without power, as reported by the Hokuriku Electric Power Company. Additionally, over 100 areas in the region were isolated due to landslides blocking roads.
Published in , September 24, 2024
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