ID :
147044
Fri, 10/22/2010 - 09:53
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/147044
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Rescue work continues on rain-hit Amami, 3 left dead
KAGOSHIMA, Japan, Oct. 21 (Kyodo) - Rescue operations continued Thursday in the Amami island region of Kagoshima Prefecture after torrential downpours the previous day caused flooding and mudslides, cutting off roads and leaving three people dead.
But rescue workers and local governments were having a difficult time as some
30 locations were closed to traffic on Amami-Oshima Island as of 3 p.m. and
about 7,000 telephone lines remained without service.
The Kagoshima prefectural government said it estimates that more than 2,000
residents remained in isolated areas.
On Thursday afternoon, a woman in cardiopulmonary arrest was found in the
living room of a collapsed house in the town of Tatsugo, and police later
confirmed the death of the woman -- 88-year-old Toshiko Miyanohara, who had
been missing -- as third in the death toll.
Although the rain eased in the southwestern Japanese region Thursday, the Japan
Meteorological Agency urged residents to remain on alert for flooded rivers and
mudslides, as heavy rain was expected to hit the area through Thursday night due to an autumn rain front.
In an emergency meeting at the prefectural office in the city of Kagoshima,
Gov. Yuichiro Ito said, ''Our top priority is to restore traffic and
information infrastructure.''
NTT West Corp. said about 50 employees were working to fully restore phone
service on the island, but some areas remained inaccessible due to blocked
roads and landslides.
Among other utility services, about 9,700 households on the island had no
electricity as of 3 p.m., while the city of Amami distributed water to
households as water supply was cut in the area.
On Thursday, the Ground Self-Defense Force sent about 20 personnel by
helicopter to the Amami region to engage in rescue work.
The Kagoshima branch of the Japanese Red Cross Society said, meanwhile, it will
dispatch a total of seven doctors and nurses to take care of elderly people at
evacuation centers. The medical team will take a ferry in Kagoshima on Thursday
evening and arrive on the island Friday morning.
Earlier Thursday, police identified the initial two people who died as Hisa
Ike, 90, and Sue Naga, 87. They were residents at a nursing care home in Amami.
Seven other residents and one staff member there were rescued.
On Wednesday, the Amami region experienced 120 or more millimeters of rain per
hour three times and around 2,800 people were ordered to evacuate.
A number of flights were canceled at Amami airport due to a technical glitch in
NTT circuit lines, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Ministry.
According to Kagoshima Prefecture, a total of about 140 students from four
elementary and junior high schools in Amami were unable to go home Wednesday
and spent the night at school.
At another nursing care home in the city, a total of 118 residents and staff
members were trapped but were all rescued by early Thursday.
Total rainfall from Monday evening, when it began falling, to 11 a.m. Thursday came to 910 mm in Amami and 844 in Tatsugo.
For the 24 hours through 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, the observatory point in Naze, Amami, received a record 648 mm, exceeding 581 mm marked Sept 10, 1976, according to the Kagoshima Local Meteorological Observatory.
But rescue workers and local governments were having a difficult time as some
30 locations were closed to traffic on Amami-Oshima Island as of 3 p.m. and
about 7,000 telephone lines remained without service.
The Kagoshima prefectural government said it estimates that more than 2,000
residents remained in isolated areas.
On Thursday afternoon, a woman in cardiopulmonary arrest was found in the
living room of a collapsed house in the town of Tatsugo, and police later
confirmed the death of the woman -- 88-year-old Toshiko Miyanohara, who had
been missing -- as third in the death toll.
Although the rain eased in the southwestern Japanese region Thursday, the Japan
Meteorological Agency urged residents to remain on alert for flooded rivers and
mudslides, as heavy rain was expected to hit the area through Thursday night due to an autumn rain front.
In an emergency meeting at the prefectural office in the city of Kagoshima,
Gov. Yuichiro Ito said, ''Our top priority is to restore traffic and
information infrastructure.''
NTT West Corp. said about 50 employees were working to fully restore phone
service on the island, but some areas remained inaccessible due to blocked
roads and landslides.
Among other utility services, about 9,700 households on the island had no
electricity as of 3 p.m., while the city of Amami distributed water to
households as water supply was cut in the area.
On Thursday, the Ground Self-Defense Force sent about 20 personnel by
helicopter to the Amami region to engage in rescue work.
The Kagoshima branch of the Japanese Red Cross Society said, meanwhile, it will
dispatch a total of seven doctors and nurses to take care of elderly people at
evacuation centers. The medical team will take a ferry in Kagoshima on Thursday
evening and arrive on the island Friday morning.
Earlier Thursday, police identified the initial two people who died as Hisa
Ike, 90, and Sue Naga, 87. They were residents at a nursing care home in Amami.
Seven other residents and one staff member there were rescued.
On Wednesday, the Amami region experienced 120 or more millimeters of rain per
hour three times and around 2,800 people were ordered to evacuate.
A number of flights were canceled at Amami airport due to a technical glitch in
NTT circuit lines, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Ministry.
According to Kagoshima Prefecture, a total of about 140 students from four
elementary and junior high schools in Amami were unable to go home Wednesday
and spent the night at school.
At another nursing care home in the city, a total of 118 residents and staff
members were trapped but were all rescued by early Thursday.
Total rainfall from Monday evening, when it began falling, to 11 a.m. Thursday came to 910 mm in Amami and 844 in Tatsugo.
For the 24 hours through 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, the observatory point in Naze, Amami, received a record 648 mm, exceeding 581 mm marked Sept 10, 1976, according to the Kagoshima Local Meteorological Observatory.
