6,000 Still at Shelters Week after Special Rain Warnings

July 13, 2018

Tokyo- Some 6,000 people were still at shelters Friday, a week after special warnings were issued in eight prefectures in western and southwestern Japan due to torrential rain.

The death toll from floods and landslides caused by the rain stood at 192 in 13 of the country's 47 prefectures as of 1 p.m. (4 a.m. GMT), with 68 people unaccounted for in four prefectures.

Water supply remained cut off at 207,508 households as of 10 p.m. Thursday, mainly in the hardest-hit prefecture of Hiroshima, according to welfare ministry and other sources.

The number of deaths from the disaster stood at 84 in Hiroshima, 59 in Okayama Prefecture and 26 in Ehime Prefecture.

The number of missing people stands at 39 in Hiroshima and 26 in Okayama.

The central government decided on Friday to spend 2,084.8 million yen from its contingency reserves to provide emergency assistance to disaster-affected areas.

"The government will procure such emergency supplies as water, food, air conditioners and temporary toilets, all indispensable to people in disaster areas," Finance Minister Taro Aso said.

The government earmarked 350 billion yen in the reserves in its fiscal 2018 initial budget. Jiji Press