A flooding disaster is unfolding across Western Japan. Evacuation orders are affecting over 1 Million people. Fatalities have been reported across Kyushu and Shikoku with more rain expected in Gifu, Shimane, and Ehime. Several cities have seen more than a month’s worth of rain in a few hours. The NHK is reporting, “The city of Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture saw about 364 millimeters of rain between and 5 and 7 AM. That’s about 1.5 times the average monthly rainfall for July.” That’s more than 14 inches of rain in two hours.
When evacuating, please be extremely careful, especially if flood waters mean you cannot see the ground in front of you. Sometimes manhole covers or parts of the road will get washed away. For any of our readers in Japan, stay safe. Also, many of those in Nagoya now come from areas affected by the floods and have loved ones there.
Meanwhile, dude rolls up in a jetski to help save people.
一般の方？に助けて貰いました。
ヘリコプターに気づいてもらえず
2階が水没した時にちょうど、助けに来てくれました。ボランティアで人の為に命張っていて、お年寄も沢山助けていて
本当にかっこよかったです。
今日からずっと憧れです。心配してくれた人ありがとうございました。 pic.twitter.com/pWlbpf3EWT
— いくみ (@ikumi____16) July 7, 2018
The Asia bureaus of Western media outlets are stretched to their breaking points as they simultaneously cover American Secretary of State’s visit to Tokyo and the rescue effort to save the Thai soccer team; no one is left to cover the catastrophic flooding which has ravaged Western Japan. And apparently the home offices are glued to the breathless reporting of current efforts to extract the team so no one is left to update their websites with information about this story.
I thought it odd that there’s been so little coverage of this disaster in the West, with the story being the 5th or 6th item on news bulletins. Usually if you have 50+ people dying in a major developed country, and a million-plus displaced, it would be headline news, with correspondents on the ground. Obviously the Thai situation is dramatic and grabs attention, but the Western media really should be better reporting a major crisis affecting a huge number of people within the borders of a key ally.
It was comical to watch the Sunday morning news. They were talking about the Thai soccer team, then said, “Now, turning to Japan where Mike Pompeo…” basically confirmed there’s no news related to North Korea. They should have declared it an eco-terrorist attack or blamed global warming to initiate Western Media “Swarm Mode”.