Death toll tops 100 as Japan counts damage from record rain

Rescuers have stepped up efforts to clear areas hit by flooding and landslides.

Record downpours triggered devastation mainly in Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures. (Photo: Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) – The death toll from the historic rainfall in western Japan reached 110 on Monday as rescuers stepped up efforts to clear areas hit by flooding and landslides. Some plants halted by the floods started to resume operations as the affected regions began the process of recovery.

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Nearly 80 people remain unaccounted for, according to national broadcaster NHK, and thousands still remain in evacuation centers after record downpours triggered devastation in wide parts of the region, mainly in Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures.

Authorities, who described the downpour as “historic”, have lifted the heavy rain and flood warnings which were been in place since Thursday, and weather in most affected regions is expected to improve.

Power & water outages

Toyota Motor Corp., Daihatsu Motor Co., and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. resumed normal operations at plants in after fully or partially shutting down over the past few days. Work remains halted at the factories of Mazda Motor Corp., Panasonic Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

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Power and water in wide parts of Hiroshima and Okayama has yet to be restored, and many of the factories still shut cited the water supply as well as difficulties faced by employees in getting to work.

As of 3 p.m. Japan time, the death toll stood at 110, NHK said. The broadcaster also reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe canceled a planned trip to Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt from Wednesday to cope with the disaster.

Business interruptions widespread

Below is a summary of reports on company outages:

Market reaction to the flooding was relatively muted. The Topix Construction Index rose 1.5% versus a gain of 1.2% in broader Topix gauge. Companies moving on the news included Raito Kogyo Co., which provides piling, waterproofing and piping engineering works and added 3.7%. Izumi Co., which operates shopping centers mainly in western Japan, fell 2.5%.

Bank of Japan’s branch managers from the affected regions have requested that financial institutions take appropriate measures for those affected by the recent floods.

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