 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Japanese Troops To Dig Out After Deadly Snowfalls
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 09, 2006 Soldiers were called out Monday to help residents clear huge piles of snow in areas by the Sea of Japan after a record-breaking cold spell which has left 70 people dead in recent weeks. The farming area of Tsunan, around 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Tokyo, has seen up to 390 centimetres (13 feet) of snow dumped on some locations where cold air from Siberia collided with the mountains. The bad weather Monday gave way to sunshine and brought some respite, but it also brought fears of avalanches which hampered efforts to clear snow from roads and other areas. "I haven't seen sunshine like this for weeks. Even if the sun shone briefly before, it was always snowing," said Chieko Baba, a government official in the town of Tsunan. The official said around 100 soldiers had joined snow clearing operations in the area but they did not venture on to the main highway because of avalanche warnings. Baba said around 200 houses remain cut off because of the highway's closure and schools in the region would not open until Wednesday because paths to the premises were blocked. "Farmers usually go to cities for seasonal jobs in the winter but they cannot do so this year. They need to keep removing snow to save their houses," she said. Kunihiko Yamagishi, a weatherman at the Japan Meteorological Agency, warned that despite Monday's lull more snow was expected. "People must also remain alert for avalanches," he added. He attributed the heavy snowfalls, which have been blamed for 70 deaths so far, to waves of freezing air, below minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit), coming from an unusually strong cold air mass over Siberia. In the latest reported fatalities an 89-year-old man was found dead in a pond in his backyard with a shovel beside his body and a 86-year-old woman died buried in the snow at the back of her house. Both were believed to have been shovelling snow at the time. Five others died on Sunday, including a 55-year-old woman who suffocated after snow slid off the roof of her house and buried her. A 55-year-old farmer fell while removing snow from the roof of a warehouse. A 58-year-old man who went missing several weeks ago was found dead about two meters (seven feet) under the snow at Aomori on the northern tip of Honshu island. His family believed he had gone to work in the city, reports said.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express It's A White Out at TerraDaily.com
Nine More Freeze To Death In Indian Cold Snap
Lucknow, India (AFP) Jan 11, 2006Nine more people have frozen to death in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said Wednesday, even as a cold wave that has gripped north India since the weekend showed signs of easing. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
