Helicopters pluck residents to safety as rains lash Japan

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[h=4]Helicopters pluck residents to safety as rains lash Japan[/h]Rescue workers rushed to save residents from rising waters Thursday after a slow-moving typhoon triggered floods and landslides in parts of eastern Japan.

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Japanese rescue workers save residents from rising waters after a slow-moving typhoon triggered floods and landslides in eastern parts of the country. USA TODAY


An aerial view shows a flooded area in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on Sept 10.(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)


TOKYO — Japanese rescue workers rushed to save residents from rising waters Thursday after a slow-moving typhoon triggered floods and landslides in eastern parts of the country.
Television news channels showed dramatic live video of police, fire department and military helicopters plucking residents from terraces and rooftops in the city of Joso, a city about 30 miles<span style="color: Red;">*</span>northeast of Tokyo.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The massive flooding occurred after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a river burst through flood barriers.
No deaths were reported, but authorities said at least 15 people had been injured, including two seriously.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ninety-six people were reported rescued by late Thursday, and at least 10 others were still missing. Around 100,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of continuing floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Etau, which crossed into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday after pounding central Japan with heavy rain and wind for two days.
“This is a seriously dangerous situation. We consider it an emergency,” Takuya Deshimaru, a spokesman for the agency<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe interrupted work on a set of contentious national security bills to pledge assistance to the stricken area.
“The government will make all-out efforts to protect the people and will take all necessary disaster management measures,” Abe said.
Weather officials reported that parts of Tochigi prefecture, near Tokyo, recorded more than 20 inches of rain in the past 24 hours. That’s more than double the usual rainfall for the region for the entire month of September.
The live coverage of rescue operations was reminiscent of an earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in March 2011 that killed over 15,000 people. A further 3,200 are listed as still missing.
In one particularly dramatic sequence on Thursday, a member of Japan’s military was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shown rappelling from a helicopter four times to pluck residents one-by-one from the second story of a home. In another, two elderly people were shown being helped from a helicopter onto dry land <span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>each tightly clutching a pet dog.
Other images broadcast showed people standing on the roofs of cars and trucks.
Much of the flooding occurred after the Kunigawa River<span style="color: Red;">*</span>broke through a section of flood barriers, spilling waist-deep water into streets and surrounding areas. The floodwaters extended five miles from the breach, according to the Kyodo News Service.
Government officials had issued warnings of the approaching typhoon and scores of airplane flights and bullet trains were cancelled or postponed as a precautionary measure.
Typhoon Etau was downgraded to a tropical storm after passing through Japan’s main islands on Wednesday, but heavy rains continued in part of Japan.

JAPAN FLOODING, LANDSLIDES FORCES 100,000 TO RELOCATEFloods in Japan are forcing tens of thousands to evacuate | 00:54Major flooding in eastern Japan has forced 100,00 to evacuate, and almost 1 million are advised to evacuate.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook

JAPAN FLOODING, LANDSLIDES FORCES 100,000 TO RELOCATEFloods in Japan strand people on rooftops | 00:39Military helicopters plucked residents from the top floors of their homes on Thursday after raging floodwaters poured in and inundated a wide swath of a city north of Tokyo. (Sept. 10) AP

JAPAN FLOODING, LANDSLIDES FORCES 100,000 TO RELOCATEFloods spark evacuations as Japan is deluged | 00:59Tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee homes across Japan as heavy rain pounded the country, sending radiation-tainted waters into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Video provided by AFP Newslook

JAPAN FLOODING, LANDSLIDES FORCES 100,000 TO RELOCATEJapanese residents flee flood waters near Tokyo | 03:20Sep. 10 -- Bloomberg's David Gura highlights the photos illustrating headlines from around the world on "Bloomberg Surveillance." Bloomberg





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