Abe Vows Quick Aid to Rain Disaster Areas

August 5, 2018

Kure, Hiroshima Pref.- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday his government will carry out immediately a 100-billion-yen assistance package that has been worked out for western Japan areas damaged by flooding and landslides caused by torrential rain last month.

On many local people who remained in shelters, Abe told reporters in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit prefectures, "The procedures for entry to public housing and temporary homes will be taken quickly."

"Temporary homes will be constructed at an accelerated pace," he added.

Referring to the approach of Typhoon Shanshan, the 13th typhoon this year, to Japan, Abe said, "We'll be on alert as needed and do all we can to be fully prepared for any emergency."

The prime minister traveled to Hiroshima Prefecture on Sunday for the second time since the rain disaster. He visited the site of a rail collapse on the Sanyo Line of West Japan Railway Co. <9021> in Higashihiroshima, and held talks with displaced people at shelters in Kure and the town of Kumano. Jiji Press