Wednesday (October 16): Japan’s government said today that the death toll from a weekend typhoon that caused widespread flooding has climbed to 63, with another 11 presumed dead.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that another eight people were missing in typhoon-hit areas in central and northern Japan. At least 200 people were injured, 30 of them seriously.
Suga said the government will spend 710 million yen (USD 6.5 million) from special reserves in the budget to cover food and other necessities primarily for evacuees.
The full extent of damage from the typhoon is still unknown, and the government is open to further spending if necessary, Suga said.
Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan on Saturday with historic rainfall that caused rivers to overflow and left thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power.
More than 200 rivers overflowed, and more than 50 of those now have damaged embankments.
Rescue work in hard-hit areas in Nagano and Fukushima is gradually shifting to cleanup as receding floodwaters revealed more damage.
Life in Tokyo was largely back to normal, except for some neighbourhoods along the flooded Tama River.
