From flood waters to intense heat, the Japan flood disaster is the worst in 36 years, claiming almost 200 lives.
Intense heat and water shortages are now cause for concern just days after western Japan was hit by an intense wave of flooding. The death toll from the worst weather disaster in 36 years has almost hit 200. As the region heats up, and with a lack of water due to houses being cut off from supply, fears turn to the possibility of a disease outbreak.
“More than 200,000 households had no water a week after torrential rains caused floods and set off landslides across western Japan, bringing death and destruction to decades-old communities built on mountain slopes and flood plains,” reports the Independent.
With daily temperatures above 30 Celsius and high humidity, life in school gymnasiums and other evacuation centers, where families spread out on mats on the floors, has begun to take a toll.
Efforts have now turned to search and rescue missions as more than 70,000 military, police and firefighters have toiled through the debris in a grim search for the missing. Some teams shoveled dirt into sacks and piled the bags into trucks. Others used diggers and chainsaws to work through landslides and splintered buildings. Many areas were buried deep in mud that smelled like sewage and had hardened in the heat, making the search more difficult, reports Japan Today.
Hundreds of thousands of homes remain without power or clean water.
