Heavy rains continued to lash northeastern Japan on Sunday with the death toll rising to three in the hardest-hit region of Niigata, police and medical officials said.
Three others were missing in Niigata and Fukushima, the latter of which was ravaged on March 11 by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami which knocked a nuclear power plant out of control.
Thousands remained sheltered at evacuation centre to avoid floods from the rain storm since Wednesday following torrents that killed at least 59 in South Korea last week.
Local governments in Niigata and had issued guidance since Friday to more than 60,000 people to flee their homes, the national Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
Several thousands were estimated to remain sheltered in Niigata early Sunday, an official at the Niigata prefectural office said. He could not immediately confirm how many people had actually been evacuated.
In Fukushima, 1,020 were sheltered as of late Saturday, Jiji Press news agency said. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 2,278 houses had been flooded.
"The rain reached a peak in Niigata and Fukushima yesterday. It is still raining hard intermittently in limited areas," Japan Meteorological Agency official Kenji Okada said. "Its focus shifted slightly south."
In Niigata, the body of a third victim, a 63-year-old man, was recovered early Sunday. "He was sandbagging a levee when he was washed away into a river," a prefectural police official told AFP by telephone.
Two persons were found dead in Niigata late Saturday after they fell into rivers while driving cars.
© 2011 AFP
20 Comments
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CruzControl
Talk about having a bad year...
my2sense
An oxy-moron (irony) at its best... the pic of the day and this story. Unreal.
Skeptical Hippo
Armageddon
warnerbro
God be with them. Much of the flooding seems to be in areas that were spared the worst of the radiation.
Utrack
Hopefully the floods will wash away some of the cesium contaminated soil and keep people out of some of the areas where there is contamination. Can't say what food the evacuees will be served since alot of foodstuff maybe contaminated in the Fukushima area.
GW
Clearly climate change is showing consequences, will mankind have the smarts to start mending our ways or will we wait for it to get worse.
This craps is happening all around the world, we all had better start getting our you know what together or mother nature is going to do it for us!
Carcharodon
never has the idiom, when it rains it pours been more apt...and Fukushima has been bearing the brunt of these rain too. Good thing Fukushima has no volcanoes.
WilliB
The gods really have it in for Northern Japan this year. Earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods... what is next
Serrano
Thanks, Mother Nature, thanks a whole lot.
"The gods really have it in for Northern Japan this year"
Tokyo Gov Ishihara has already explained that, lol.
melguy
There is no longer any hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change. Better just to prepare for it.
smithinjapan
I really feel for the people in the north... they are getting it far worse than normal, and Niigata always gets flooded.
nath
Unfortunately not true. Besides others, Bandai is a big one and it's last major eruption was ed in 1888.
Bandai Volcano Eruptions:
1888, 1808?, 1787, 1767?, 1719, 1611?, 806.
When will the next one be? Not for a long time I hope
nath
@basit36: Most people here will not understand about you saying do not make fun of your Rabb. I do.
The people of Japan are strong and will do well. Give it time as long as the radiation contaminated food stays out of reach. Resilient we are.
Bumblejay
May their souls rest in peace.
gubernurbi
Pray for Japan...wish in the disasters they find their God who have been forgotten for a long time!
Asagao
...and no news about the nuclear power station? Water levels pleas, and any run-off into the sea? It is important news.
tokyokawasaki
If you really believe in god, then he is with them, because he caused the flood? The almighty has a plan for you too.
tokyokawasaki
I don't understand religious views/people. I thought you all believed god has a plan for everyone. Thus he (god) causes all the natural disasters too? Although (as usual) there will be a convenient religious excuse for anything bad that happens.
Moderator
Readers, please do not turn this thread into a discussion on God.