At least 39 dead, 7 missing as landslides hit Hiroshima

Terrible news! Horrible images coming from the landslide area now. RIP

This is awful. RIP.

Rest in Peace. Just awful news. Fingers crossed the remainder of the missing people are calmly waiting to be rescued right now.

From what I've read online, much of the damage is in the Asaminami Ward of Hiroshima, probably just south of the San'yo Expressway.

Sat outside and watched this (unheard of) lightning and thunder storm this early morning. Absolutely beautiful, but deadly. I thought about buying a house in those hills a few years ago. My wife always warned against it. Now I know why.

The center of this system sat directly above this area for at least 4 hours. Went for a bike ride and some new home owners were trying to dry out their tatamis. The sun came out briefly for a couple of hours Sunday and Monday, other than that, it's been cloudy and rainy for almost a week here. Very sad

I hear landslide, and I think of this dreadful incident which was related to me by my grandmother: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster ... and I also can't help thinking "thank goodness it wasn't a school day today."

Why were those households not evacuated? So many other areas in western Japan were, why not there? My Japanese friends and students are in shock right now, they had such faith in the superiority of Japanese disaster prevention (against all available evidence!).

Tessa, it was a freak storm and didn't start until 12:30 to 1 AM. I was watching the radar all day yesterday. It caught everyone by surprise by the length it stayed over the same area. Instincts are better than waiting for the government.

So many other areas in western Japan were, why not there?

What areas please? Just curious.

What areas please? Just curious.

During last week's typhoon, and for a few days afterwards, many areas in western Japan were subject to evacuation orders, some of them emergency. People close to me were affected, and were very grateful for the advance warning. It's obvious to me that authorities keep a very close eye on weather conditions. Why were the people in Hiroshima so badly failed by them?

I think the authorities down there in Hiroshima may have been overwhelmed! Mother Nature can be VERY, VERY CRUEL! Here on of the rescuers also ended up dying as he was helping others, a TRUE HERO!! RIP and all those who are dead down there in Hiroshima. You know, you here of this kind of thing happening in poorer countries like Colombia, Bangladesh etc..you do not think in can happen in HIGH TECH Japan, etc..but???

This is awful. RIP.

All that needs to be said. Speculating about why it happened, who is to balme, etc. at this point is just disrespectful.

Elbuda, Nature is not cruel. Nature does what Nature does.

If this storm is anything like the sudden flash storms that have hit Tokyo and Saitama in recent months, it could be due to the heat island  effect. The mass of rising hot air from major cities hitting the cooler surrounding air has been proven to trigger flash storms and flooding.

IF this is the case, we caused it.

A terrible tragedy nevertheless.  

So sad to hear about what happened ..... Been there in Hiroshima long time ago..... Pity among those who are the victim of land slide Pray for you .....

jerseyboy: "Speculating about why it happened, who is to balme, etc. at this point is just disrespectful."

Yes and no. If placing the blame where it belongs, and those being blamed know it, it might just help them expedite evacuation or whatever other means could have been taken to lessen the death toll/injuries given that the area is still quite dangerous and more rain is expected (and given it's happened in the same place not long ago).

That said, it is indeed truly awful, and I hope they can find some of the still missing alive. RIP to those lost.

Form the tv screen, the devastation caused by mudslide in Hiroshima looked heart-wrenching. Hope the rescue efforts can get to trapped fast enough before it’s too late.

In a related news, Abe went on playing golf with his buddies after receiving the reports of tragedy. This admin seems not care much about the ordinary j-people. It’s shame for a national leader to be indifferent and insensitive to people who are going through paining and suffering.

Must have been as if the bottom fell out of the sky.

In a related news, Abe went on playing golf with his buddies after receiving the reports of tragedy.

I must have been watching a different TV channel than you this morning; reports I saw said Abe san returned to Tokyo and despatched a minister to Hiroshima to over see the search and rescue operation. Even this article confirms that he abandoned his golfing holiday.

On the news this morning they have had some experts pointing out the simple fact that building neighborhoods on slopes like this inevitably leads to disasters like this. Most of the nieghborhoods hit are new ones built in the past 30 years.

I suppose it isnt a useful observation in the sense that living in a mountainous country with a large population people pretty much have to live near mountains. On the other hand, these mountains do have naturalriverbeds` which are the locations where most (all?) of these slides occurred, and which had been known to be particularly risky areas to build. Perhaps they should introduce new rules restricting construction in such locations.

Don't like Abe, but let's give him a break.

If he hadn't gone to play golf, would that have helped one single victim in Hiroshima?

It never ceases to amaze me, that developers and individuals will build homes in flood zones, wildfire box canyons, on the sides of hills that will turn to mud etc. and stare in bewilderment when disaster strikes. When I hear of this kind of incident, I always think of a news interview with a woman in California, whose home had just slid down the mountain in a landslide such as the Hiroshima one. She was expounding to the reporter how she and her family were not going to let the loss get the better of them. Her crowning statement of stupidity was "We are going to rebuild on the same spot" Stupid B---h was all I could think, you are the reason insurance costs skyrocket and rescue people get killed.

This is happening all over the world. They talk about sea level rise, but never mention drowning from rainstorms. It is something new.....flooding from above. Maybe the thing to plant on hillsides is vines, so as to form a screen like barrier. The weight of trees cancels out the benefits of roots, which are surprisingly short on large trees.

S. Japan surely has been hit with too much rain and unfortunate loss of life. Sad indeed! Where are the clouds and rain in hot, hot Tokyo/Yokohama area?