JAPAN: So much snow

[jean63]

since 1946:

Monday January 9, 2006, 12:03 pm
Record snow in Japan: 70 dead in a month, the army called to the rescue

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TOKYO (AFP) - The army has been called to the rescue in Japan following unusually heavy snowfall that has left at least 70 people dead since the start of winter, according to the latest report published on Monday.

The army has intervened in recent days to help clear away areas threatened with isolation.

Snow has fallen in large flakes since the beginning of December over the west and north of the Archipelago, considerably disrupting transport, and the national meteorology has warned of the risks of avalanche and traffic difficulties.

On the other hand, Tokyo, the largest megalopolis in the world (30 million inhabitants), has so far been spared from the weather.

At the request of local authorities, the army dispatched emergency units to the prefectures of Nagano, in the heart of the Japanese Alps, Niigata and Akita.

In Tsunan, a large farming town covered by almost 4 meters of snow near Niigata, nearly 200 homes are isolated and schools, inaccessible, are closed until Wednesday.

The good weather returned on Monday, but more snowfall - due to a mass of cold air from Siberia - is expected in the coming days.

Since the beginning of December, snow and cold have killed 70 people in Japan, media reports said.

Most of the victims are often elderly people who fall while clearing their roofs.

An express train derailment, caused by a severe snowstorm, left 5 people dead and 32 injured on December 25 in northern Japan.

Nearly 1,4 million homes have been temporarily without electricity since the start of winter, and mail delivery has also suffered from inclement weather, a rare occurrence in Japan.

A total of 2,45 meters of snow fell on average across Japan between December 9 and January 5, three times more than the average of the past ten years, according to the Ministry of Transport, which measures snowfall in a hundred places across the Archipelago for road maintenance.

In addition, much of Japan is experiencing its coldest winter since 1946.

[Christophe]

I close this subject already mentioned here: https://www.econologie.com/forums/ici-nagano ... t1376.html