Over 6,000 remain in shelters during Kumamoto quake recovery
Hotel transfers are being arranged for evacuees as Kumamoto faces heat risks, water cuts and damage to 21,614 residential buildings nearly two weeks after the quake.
- Nearly 6,200 people remained in 99 evacuation centers across Kumamoto Prefecture as of August 10, almost two weeks after the earthquake.
- The displacement is due to extensive damage to over 21,000 homes, with 1,744 destroyed or severely damaged and over 30,000 affected by water outages.
- Authorities are preparing a secondary evacuation program to move people from shelters into hotels to improve their living conditions during the recovery.
- Evacuees face ongoing risks, including potential heatstroke, as high temperatures are a concern in the disaster-affected area.
Nearly 6,200 people remained in evacuation centres across Kumamoto Prefecture on Monday (August 10), almost two weeks after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck south-western Japan on July 28.
Kumamoto’s disaster response headquarters put the death toll at 39 as of 7.30am, with 24 people seriously injured.
Among the deaths was one suspected heatstroke case that may have been disaster-related, while two others were still being investigated for possible connections to the earthquake.
Although hospital admissions for heatstroke have declined, the risk remains a concern for evacuees.
Daytime temperatures in the prefecture could reach 35 degrees Celsius later this week.
The latest count showed 6,165 evacuees at 99 shelters, down from 10,467 people across 415 facilities on July 30.
The prefectural government is also preparing to move evacuees to hotels under a secondary evacuation programme.
By Sunday, 148 accommodation facilities in the prefecture had indicated that they were ready to receive evacuees.
Of the 996 applications submitted, 103 had been approved.
Damage assessments have identified 21,614 affected residential buildings, including 1,744 that were destroyed or severely damaged and 7,876 that sustained partial damage.
More than 30,000 homes in the cities of Uki and Yatsushiro and the town of Hikawa remained affected by water outages.
Emergency repairs are expected to be completed by the end of August.
The prefectural government and the education ministry will assess repairs needed at school buildings and other challenges before schools reopen after the summer holidays.
Volunteer centres have been established in all 11 municipalities needing assistance.
A total of 2,451 volunteers had joined disaster relief operations by 2pm on Sunday.
The Kyushu Shinkansen section between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata stations remains suspended.
Kyushu Railway Company, or JR Kyushu, is expected to provide an update before the end of August on when the route can reopen.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
