Earlier this week, while Saigon residents pushed their motorbikes through murky floodwater or sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Japan was busy handling its own rain-related troubles.
Last week, Typhoon Etau did more than upset traffic in the small town of Joso, 50 kilometers north of Tokyo. A torrential downpour hit Japan's east coast, causing the nearby Kinugawa River to burst its banks and turning the lives of local residents upside down, as you can see in the images below, which were featured on Al Jazeera America.
According to The Guardian, over 100,000 residents were evacuated from the affected area. Still, military rescuers rescued dozens of stranded people from their cars and homes, as the rising floodwaters washed away vehicles and pulled houses loose from their foundations.
Across the country, others prepared for the worst. “This is a downpour on a scale that we have not experienced before,” one Japanese forecaster remarked at an emergency press conference. “Grave danger could be imminent.”
As of right now, the typhoon has been downgraded to a tropical storm however, with their houses gone, Joso residents will be picking up the pieces long after the floodwaters recede.
