Yamagata 1 week from record heavy rain Continue cleaning up at flooded farmers etc. August 4 16:34
It's been four days and one week since the record heavy rain that hit Yamagata Prefecture.
In the disaster-stricken area where the Mogami River flooded and many houses and farmland were flooded, residents are busy cleaning up.
A record heavy rain in late July caused flooding at five locations in the Mogami River, causing a total of about 700 homes in Yamagata Prefecture to be inundated and damaged, as well as the specialty cherry fields and paddy fields. 2200 hectares were flooded.
In the Toyota district of Oishida-cho, where more than 100 homes were damaged, the furniture that was carried out remains on the road, and watermelons and pumpkins in the fields are also damaged by mud. There are still scratches left.
Yuko Onuma (69), who lives with his 90-year-old father in this district, was busy cleaning up a shed and garage for agricultural work that had been flooded for four days.
In the harsh heat, Mr. Onuma, with the help of volunteers from the prefecture, loaded trucks with farm equipment and household items that had been soaked in water and carried them to the disaster waste storage area, and used a high-pressure washer to clean the sticky mud. It was washed off.
Mr. Onuma said, ``I was crazy at first, but I began to get tired. It is sad that the farm equipment used by my father is thrown away. I must do my best now to clean up. I feel grateful for the volunteers with the feeling that they cannot do it."