Posts
Japan Flooding Updates:
9/11/2015
Mag 5.4 Quake Rattles Japan; Radioactive Water Spills Into Pacific
Nuclear
& Energy Sep. 11, 2015 - Updated 01:34
UTC-4
The
operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has
found that rainwater has intermittently overflowed a drainage channel
and spilled directly into the sea.
This
happened after the area was hit by the recent heavy rains.
Tokyo
Electric Power Company said on Friday that it confirmed the leaks
through video footage of the complex. The operator said the leaks
occurred at 3 AM, 5:20 AM and 6 AM on Friday -- for a total of more
than 2 and a half hours.
TEPCO
is now checking the radioactive levels of rainwater samples taken
from the channel.
Radioactive
rainwater was first found spilling into the sea from the channel in
February.
As
a stopgap measure, TEPCO built a barrier at the channel's far end to
pump up water before it reached the sea.
The
channel repeatedly floods during heavy rains.
Work
to reroute the drainage channel so that the rainwater does not leak
outside the plant's port, which began in May, has yet to be
completed.
3
dead, 23 missing in eastern Japan floods
Japan
Sep. 11, 2015 - Updated 03:22
UTC-4
Authorities
in eastern Japan say massive floods and landslides caused by
record-high rainfall have left three people dead and 23 missing.
Rescuers
are searching for the missing, 22 of whom are from Joso City in
Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo. A levee of the Kinugawa River
gave way in the city on Thursday.
City
officials had said 25 people were missing, but later contacted three
of them.
The
other missing person is from Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture.
One
of the three dead, a man in his 20s, fell in a drain on Thursday
while working at an overflowed river in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture.
A
63-year-old woman died after her house was hit by a landslide in
Kanuma City, also in Tochigi.
Officials
in Kurihara say a 48-year-old woman died on Friday morning after her
car was washed away by floodwaters.
Recovering
radiation contaminated bags
Nuclear
& Energy Sep. 11, 2015 - Updated 08:43
UTC-4
Floods
have washed bags of material contaminated by radiation into river in
a village in Fukushima prefecture. Some of them have reportedly been
recovered, but others are still missing.
Environment
ministry officials say they received a report on Friday morning that
floods from heavy rain carried the plastic bags into the Niida River.
They were being stored on farmland in Iitate village near the
Crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The
bags contained grass and other materials tainted with radioactive
substances from the 2011 nuclear accident. They were being kept
outdoors near the river before being transferred to storage sites.
The
officials say 82 bags have been washed into the Niida and nearby Hiso
rivers. Workers involved in decontamination efforts reportedly
recovered 37 of them as of 6 PM Friday.
The
officials say they will continue searching for the remaining bags and
check whether any other bags have been washed away.
Rescues
continue along flooded Shibui River
Japan
Sep. 10, 2015 - Updated 23:46
UTC-4
Emergency
rescue teams are struggling to reach people stranded by floodwaters
in a wide area along the Shibui River in Osaki City, Miyagi
Prefecture, in northeastern Japan.
A
20-meter section of a levee collapsed on Friday morning. The area is
the latest to suffer extreme damage from flooding caused by the
recent record rains.
City
authorities say calls for rescue are pouring in from stranded
residents. Ground Self-Defense Force personnel called in to help say
about 100 buildings have been inundated.
Firefighters
and GSDF personnel are using boats and helicopters to try to get to
the stranded people. Firefighters say they had rescued 66 people by
noon on Friday.
City
officials say more than 700 residents, including those who have been
rescued, have evacuated to shelters. About 1,250 people live in the
district where the levee broke.
The
Meteorological Agency has issued an emergency warning for Miyagi
Prefecture. Local municipalities are calling on residents to evacuate
to safer place.
Earlier
on Thursday, Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures, south of Miyagi,
suffered extreme damage from floods.
Twenty-five
people are missing in Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture. About 580 others
remain stranded and are waiting for help.
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