KURASHIKI, Japan: It was 1972 when a major flood last hit Mabi town in Kurashiki. It is still a vivid memory for many of the…
KURASHIKI, Japan: It was 1972 when a major flood last hit Mabi town in Kurashiki. It is still a vivid memory for many of the elderly residents today
Back at that time, the water level rose only about 30 centimetres in the neighbourhood, flooding the street, says Kyoko Kono, 71. Drawing on that experience, she and her husband Karumi thought everything would be fine when the skies opened with menace last Saturday.
Now, they are standing in their home which was left absolutely sodden by the deadly floodwaters that burst through this community last weekend, killing 50 people in Mabi and leaving 11 still missing. Across western Japan, at least 200 people are dead, making this the worst flooding event for more three decades.
The wooden floor of the house is damaged beyond repair and Karumi is hacking away at a disintegrating ceiling. Most of the couple’s belongings from the ground floor could not be recovered.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be like this. So we didn’t evacuate. We thought we could just go upstairs if the water got higher,” she said. “And most of the people around here thought that too and stayed at home.
“The water came up to the ceiling on the first floor. There was a whirlpool. And then I started to feel very scared.”
She could see other people from the town – many of them older residents – standing on their balconies or roofs waving to passing helicopters for help. Eventually it was a Japanese Self-Defence crew that collected them in a rescue boat.
Now, Kono’s two sons have returned to assist with the clean-up and general dismantling of the family home. They suspect it will need to be demolished and completely rebuilt. Karumi’s friends are also coming each day to assist with the heavy labour.
“I really appreciate them coming to help. Otherwise we can’t do anything,” she said.
It is a difficult issue facing many of the affected elderly residents in Mabi. With little government assistance and a slow rollout of volunteers at this stage of recovery, many are facing the cleanup process all but alone.
They will rely on one another – the neighbours they have lived beside for so many years to get through this difficult chapter.
