Residents forced to clean up after Typhoon No. 25: 9 dead and 4 missing in Chiba and Kanagawa

On the 23rd, residents in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, where nine people were killed and four were missing due to flooding and landslides caused by Typhoon Faxai, said they were ``speechless,'' showing their fatigue as they cleaned up mud-covered homes and removed earth and sand.

Approximately 300 buildings were flooded in Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture. Kazuki Sugao (59), who lives with his elderly parents, had muddy water flowing into the first floor of his home. He said he had been flooded during heavy rains in August, and said, ``I was just continuing to clean up. There's no use feeling discouraged,'' he said as he washed away mud from his front door with water.

At the izakaya, which was submerged in waist-deep water, three patrons continued to carry out dirty liquor bottles and food. One customer said, ``I came to help out because I was worried about the store,'' and another customer said, ``Maybe we could have just piled sandbags.''

Search efforts by the Self-Defense Forces and others continued in Kominato, Kamogawa City, where two people, a man and a woman in their 80s, were killed. Shinji Kobayashi (74), the town chairman, said of the landslide, ``I heard a sound like violently scraping gravel for 15 to 20 seconds.'' His wife, Yasue (74), a civil welfare officer, went around asking people to evacuate to the homes of elderly people living alone during heavy rains. He said he tried to call out to the female victim, but was unable to save her, and shrugged, saying, ``I have no words. I have regrets.''

A woman in her 30s died after being caught in a landslide in Hatsuse-cho, Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The area nearby was covered in mud. A woman in her 50s said that she had heard mud and sand pouring in through her living room window, recalling, ``I couldn't hear anything because of the rain, so I thought it sounded like a gust of wind, but it turned out to be the sound of sand and sand.'' A man in his 50s who lives in the area said, ``The rain got heavier from around the evening of the 21st, and I kept hearing the sound of the wind blowing through.'' A gas cylinder from a neighbor's house flowed into the house along with dirt. Feeling in danger, he and his family evacuated to a nearby parking lot.

Search efforts continued in the city's Minamishimoura town for a woman in her 20s who went missing after being caught in mud. Ward Mayor Kimio Takahashi (75), who grew up in the area, said, ``This is the first time I've experienced damage of this magnitude.''