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More victims, more damage found in typhoon aftermath

Published:Wednesday | October 16, 2019 | 1:47 AM
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The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Toshio Yonezawa, 73, center, surveys his home with son, Yusuke, after Typhoon Hagibis passed through his neighborhood Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Toshio Yonezawa, 73, center, surveys his home with son, Yusuke, after Typhoon Hagibis passed through his neighborhood Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Michiko Yoshimura, left, bows to her neighbor as they comfort each other while cleaning up her home damaged by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Michiko Yoshimura, left, bows to her neighbor as they comfort each other while cleaning up her home damaged by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Yoshiki Yoshimura, 17, sifts through the mud for anything salvageable at his home destroyed by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Yoshiki Yoshimura, 17, sifts through the mud for anything salvageable at his home destroyed by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman looks at homes devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
A woman looks at homes devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Utility workers survey damages in a neighborhood devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Utility workers survey damages in a neighborhood devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Yusuke Yonezawa, 35, surveys his father's home after Typhoon Hagibis passed through the neighborhood Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Yusuke Yonezawa, 35, surveys his father's home after Typhoon Hagibis passed through the neighborhood Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Staff members clean a hospital damaged by Typhoon Hagibis, in Marumori town, Miyagi prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. The typhoon hit Japan's main island Saturday, unleashing strong winds and dumping historic rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers in central and northern Japan to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power. (Kyodo News via AP)
The Associated Press
Staff members clean a hospital damaged by Typhoon Hagibis, in Marumori town, Miyagi prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. The typhoon hit Japan's main island Saturday, unleashing strong winds and dumping historic rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers in central and northern Japan to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power. (Kyodo News via AP)
Residents are helped to walk through a road blocked by debris caused by Typhhon Hagibis, to head to a shelter in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. More victims and more damage have been found in Typhoon Hagibis-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (Kota Endo/Kyodo News via AP)
The Associated Press
Residents are helped to walk through a road blocked by debris caused by Typhhon Hagibis, to head to a shelter in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. More victims and more damage have been found in Typhoon Hagibis-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (Kota Endo/Kyodo News via AP)
Workers survey damages in a neighborhood devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Workers survey damages in a neighborhood devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A man surveys damages at an apple orchard devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
A man surveys damages at an apple orchard devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Electricity workers work in a neighborhood devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Electricity workers work in a neighborhood devastated by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Residential area is flooded after an embankment of the Chikuma River broke due to Typhoon Hagibis, in Nagano, central Japan Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. Hagibis hit Japan's main island on Saturday, unleashing strong winds and dumping historic rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers in central and northern Japan to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power. (Kyodo News via AP)
The Associated Press
Residential area is flooded after an embankment of the Chikuma River broke due to Typhoon Hagibis, in Nagano, central Japan Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. Hagibis hit Japan's main island on Saturday, unleashing strong winds and dumping historic rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers in central and northern Japan to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power. (Kyodo News via AP)
A man cleans up mud in a neighborhood destroyed by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
A man cleans up mud in a neighborhood destroyed by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A man surveys a home damaged by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
A man surveys a home damaged by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman surveys her home destroyed by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and damage have been found in the typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
A woman surveys her home destroyed by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and damage have been found in the typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Masataka Murata carries a bag full of mud while cleaning up his friend's home damaged by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
Masataka Murata carries a bag full of mud while cleaning up his friend's home damaged by Typhoon Hagibis Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Nagano, Japan. More victims and more damage have been found in typhoon-hit areas of central and northern Japan, where rescue crews are searching for people still missing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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NAGANO (AP):

The toll of death and destruction from a typhoon that tore through central and northern Japan climbed yesterday as the Government said it was considering approving a special budget for the disaster response and eventual reconstruction.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary session that the number of deaths tied to Typhoon Hagibis had climbed to 53 and was expected to rise as at least another nine people are presumed dead. Japan’s Kyodo News agency, citing its own tally, put the death toll at 69.

Abe pledged to do the utmost for the safety and rescue of those missing and those who had to evacuate.

“We put the people’s lives first,” he said.

Hagibis hit Japan’s main island on Saturday with strong winds and historic rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged, or without power. Rescue crews on Tuesday were still searching for those missing, thought to number about 20.

Some 34,000 homes were without power, and 110,000 lacked running water. More than 30,000 people were still at shelters as of late Monday, according to the Cabinet Office’s latest tally.

Business appeared nearly back to normal in central Tokyo, and residents in areas where floodwater subsided started cleaning up. Lives, however, remained paralysed in Nagano, Fukushima, and other hard-hit areas that were still inundated.

Some residents in Nagano returned to their homes, only to find them uninhabitable.

Retired carpenter Toshitaka Yoshimura, who grew up in the Tsuno district of Nagano, was stunned when he returned to his home after staying at an evacuation centre during the storm. His house was a mess. Doors were knocked out, his handmade furniture was tossed around and damaged, and everything from a futon to electronics was broken and covered with mud.

“I put a lot of effort in this house. I made all the furniture with my wife. Now look what happened in one day,” he said, his voice trembling with emotion. “Now this makes me want to cry.”

At least some of his memorable photos with his family and relatives were intact, along with toys and games that his younger relatives played with when they gathered at his house.

“I’m glad they survived, at least,” said his nephew, Kazuki Yoshimura. “Perhaps we can still do something about the house, but nothing can be more precious than life.”