Thousands of volunteers started arriving Saturday in western Japan regions hit by the country’s worst rain disaster in decades to help residents clean up.
OSAKA – Thousands of volunteers started arriving Saturday in western Japan regions hit by the country’s worst rain disaster in decades to help residents clean up.
Prefectural governments in hard-hit Ehime, Hiroshima and Okayama expect some 18,000 volunteers from across the country to help flood victims in their cleanup efforts during the three-day weekend through Monday.
About 40 volunteer management centers have been set up in those three prefectures, according to the Japan National Council of Social Welfare.
The torrential rains since around July 6 caused extensive floods and landslides, leaving over 200 dead and some 40 still missing.
Nationwide, over 160 homes were destroyed and about 700 suffered structural damage among more than 25,600 that were flooded in 31 of the country’s 47 prefectures, the internal affairs ministry said. As of Friday afternoon, 5,800 people were still unable to return to their homes, it said.
Many local governments, while continuing work to restore transportation infrastructure, have struggled to secure enough food and accommodation in their preparations to receive disaster volunteers.
In Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit regions, volunteers from among own residents were the only ones accepted initially, though their activities had to be suspended at one point due to heavy traffic congestion caused by transport network disruption.
