The Japanese Defense Ministry will send additional servicemen to make it a 20,000-strong contingent in areas affected by the deadly floods as a result of heavy rainfall, media in Japan reported on Tuesday
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) The Japanese Defense Ministry will send additional servicemen to make it a 20,000-strong contingent in areas affected by the deadly floods as a result of heavy rainfall, media in Japan reported on Tuesday.
Since Saturday, Southwestern Japan has been struck by floods, which have also triggered landslides, due to unprecedented torrential rains, with the epicenter being Japan's third-largest island Kyushu. According to the latest reports by Japanese media, at least 53 people have died, another two are currently in a coma and 13 others are missing. Around 1.3 million of Kyushu's population of roughly 13 million people were ordered to evacuate.
"Heavy rains are likely to continue, and we want to do the best we can," Defense Minister Taro Kono said, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
As stated in the report, 10,000 troops so far have been deployed to the affected areas and the ministry has now decided to double the number.
Over 7,000 households lost electricity in the affected prefectures. In the Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures, the rains have disrupted water supply in more than 2,000 households and cut the power lines in mountainous areas. Abundant footage from the scene has revealed the enormous scale of the damage inflicted by the floods to urban and rural infrastructure, railroads and sown fields in the affected areas.
