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Japan 'quietly and efficiently' recovers from Typhoon Hagibis

Japan is already on the way to recovery after a devastating tornado which left death and destruction in its wake.

Tom Cheshire

Data and forensics correspondent

Sunday 13 October 2019 06:56, UK

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Rescue efforts after typhoon hammers Japan
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Standing on top of the wreckage, all seven of the Yarita family shifted heavy wood or pulled out their possessions from the debris.

Yesterday, this was a house, and they had taken shelter inside from the coming storm.

But they were lying in the path of a tornado, part of the huge weather system of Typhoon Hagibis.

It ripped through their village.

Kazumi Yarita. She and her family survived the typhoon in Japan. Pic: Petemilnes
Image: Kazumi Yarita and her family survived the typhoon. Pic: Petemilnes
People clear mud from their homes after being flooded during Typhoon Hagibis, on October 13, 2019 in Kawasaki, Japan
Image: People clear mud from their homes in the Japanese city of Kawasaki

"After that, the power went," Kazumi Yarita, the mother, told me. "Then I heard a loud bang. And I thought, the house is probably collapsing.

"We were buried under all the things.

"My husband and my mum got out by themselves. And I was helped by my husband. And the other four of us were helped by firefighters."

Local residents sit in a boat as they are rescued from a flooded residential area following Typhoon Hagibis in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, October 13, 2019. Pic: Kyodo
Image: Some residents needed to be rescued from the rising water. Pic: Kyodo

The typhoon has passed and today there were clear blue skies over Nagayoshi, in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

It's a relief: there's less danger of rain and wind damage, or landslides. And it means the recovery operation has already been able to begin.

But the scene is devastating. The Yarita house has simply been flattened. Elsewhere in the village cars and even a digger were simply swatted away by the tornado. One person lost his life when the wind flung a car over.

A collapsed railway bridge is seen over Chikuma river swollen by Typhoon Hagibis in Ueda, central Japan, October 13, 2019. Pic: Kyodo
Image: The Chikuma river was among those that burst their banks. Pic: Kyodo

Many residents were inside a small, beautiful shrine holding a ceremony when the tornado hit. It was battered too but is more or less unscathed. Everyone inside was unharmed.

Teams of men, working diligently, are helping the villagers with the heavier damage. They are quietly and efficiently putting things back together.

It might be a entire change of season, to compare it with yesterday.

Schoolchildren and residents remove mud after flooding caused by Typhoon Hagibis in Marumori, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, October 13, 2019. Pic: Kyodo
Image: Schoolchildren joined the recovery effort in Marumori, Miyagi prefecture. Pic: Kyodo

In central Tokyo the rain came down all day long, as the typhoon delayed its arrival. At around 9pm it was on top of us, and the wind and rain were extraordinary.

It was easy to see why forecasters had warned it could be the worst storm to hit Japan in more than 60 years - and why everyone had taken such precautions.

Still, at least 10 people died and more are still missing.

Japan is already on the way to recovery - the rugby match between Scotland and the host nation will take place later today.

That was already an important game, especially for the Scottish. But it will have an added pull, now that Japan has come through some of the worst that nature could throw at it.

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