Japanese woman, 100, found dead in her home as Typhoon Hagibis struck
Japanese woman, 100, is found dead in her family home after she refused to leave when Typhoon Hagibis flooded her city
- Ko Okada, 100, found dead in her home by relatives visiting to help her evacuate
- Niece Misako Shiga, 75, tried to get her to leave the family home but she refused
- Iwaki city in Fukushima suffered severe flooding when Typhoon Hagibis struck
- Torrential rain caused flooding and mudslides in Tokyo that left at least ten dead
Ko Okada was found face down in her home in Iwaki City, Fukushima, after Typhoon Hagibis struck her home city
A 100-year-old reportedly woman who was determined to stay in her home, died as storm Hagibis struck, causing flooding and mudslides.
Ko Okada was discovered floating face down in her home in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, when her relatives went to help her, according to local media reports today.
Her niece Misako Shiga, 75, visited Okada on October 12 to help her evacuate from her home, but she was adamant about staying put.
Okada’s last words to Shiga were, ‘I’ll be fine. Take care going home’, The Mainichi Shimbun reports.
The next day, Okada was found by her relatives after Iwaki City in Fukushima issued an evacuation advisory to its residents. She was ten days short of celebrating her 101st birthday.
Residents of central and northern Japan, including Nagano and Fukushima, which were among the worst hit by Typhoon Hagibis, were also urged to take precautions last week.
Torrential rain that caused flooding and mudslides in Tokyo that left at least ten people dead and added fresh damage in areas still recovering from recent typhoons earlier this month.
Repairs to river embankments in the area that were damaged by the previous typhoon have not been completed.
Rescue workers also found the body of a person who had gone missing in Chiba prefecture after getting caught up in floodwaters while driving.
Damaged trees move along a flooded river after heavy rain in Iwaki city, Fukushima. Rescuers worked by hand to clear debris from a landslide triggered by rainfall in Japan at the weekend
Further north another person was unaccounted for in Fukushima, which is still reeling from damage by Typhoon Hagibis earlier this month.
About 4,700 homes were out of running water and some train services were delayed or suspended.
In Midori district in Chiba, mudslides crushed three houses, killing three people who were buried underneath them.
Another mudslide hit a house in nearby Ichihara city, killing a woman.
In Nagara and Chonan towns, four people drowned when their vehicles were submerged.
A Midori resident who lives near a crushed home said: ‘There was enormous noise and impact, ”boom” like an earthquake, so I went outside.
‘Then look what happened. I was terrified. Rain was even more intense than the typhoons.’
In Fukushima, a woman was found dead in a park in Soma city after a report that a car was washed away. A passenger was still missing.
Rain also washed out Friday’s second round of the PGA Tour’s first tournament held in Japan, the Zozo Championship in Inzai city. Saturday’s second-round allowed no spectators.
Residents on a rubber boat are rescued as they were stranded by Typhoon Hagibis in Iwaki on October 13
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held an emergency task force meeting on Saturday morning and called for ‘the utmost effort in rescue and relief operations’.
He also urged quicks repairs of electricity, water and other essential services to help restore the lives of the disaster-hit residents.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the average rainfall for the entire month had fallen in just half a day on Friday.
The downpour came from a low-pressure system above Japan’s main island of Honshu that moved northward later on Friday.
Power was restored on Saturday at most of the 6,000 Chiba households that had lost electricity. About 390 people remained at shelters on Saturday afternoon.
Two weeks ago, Typhoon Hagibis caused widespread flooding and left more than 80 people dead or presumed dead across Japan.
An earlier typhoon in September had devastated Chiba, where more than 50,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 100 others flooded.
Friday’s downpour flooded more than 150 homes and damaged several others.
Yoshiki Takeuchi, an office worker who lives in a riverside house in Chiba’s Sodegaura city, said he had just finished temporary repairs to his roof after tiles were blown off by the September typhoon when Friday’s rains hit hard.
‘I wasn’t ready for another disaster like this. I’ve had enough of this, and I need a break,’ he told Kyodo News agency.
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