Shoichi Naito, at the controls of the water scooter, and others rescue elderly residents in the Mabicho district of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on July 7. (Provided by Ikumi Tomita)
“Mr. Naito is the hero of our town,” Iwata said. “He is our lifesaver.”
Over about 15 hours, Naito took about 120 people to safety. Around 4 a.m. the following day, his entire body cramped up and he could not move anymore.
The watercraft, which had been repeatedly refueled, was covered in scratches and dents from the debris.
Hiroshi had a small inflatable boat in his car, which he normally used to go fishing with his friends. Without a pump he raced to a nearby petrol station and forced air into his hobby vessel.
“After I got in the boat I went back to my house right away but there was an electric wire on the water in front of me and and I saw many things from the houses floating. It was very hard to get there. I had to navigate and avoid those obstacles,” he said.
“When I got to my house I screamed out for my mother - but no-one responded.”
As he was about to smash a window to break into this house, his father managed to call him, saying that they had already been rescued, along with Hiroshi’s grandparents.
He was relieved. But his rescue efforts were just beginning.
image: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/image/10532026/0x0/2000/1333/406865f7a9e3ad3411496f8fa06e56f6/Cf/flood-hero-8.jpg
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/japan-floods-hero-20-lives-saved-in-a-blow-up-boat-10531946
the area is now in the middle of a heat wave, making things even more miserable.
About 932,000 people in Sichuan Province were adversely impacted by floods caused by heavy rains by midday last Thursday, with three deaths and 101,000 people evacuated. Over 600 houses were destroyed, and 36,900 hectares of farmland were flooded. The direct economic losses were estimated at 2.4 billion yuan.
there are also stories of flooding in Laos and Viet nam from heavy rain.
Here, we have had heavy rain, meaning Manila is flooding as usual (one of these days they will improve their drainage system, and actually stop building in areas lower than sea level).
ARANETA RIVER: Members of a local government rescue team paddle their way through floodwaters on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City following continuous rains brought about by tropical depression Henry yesterday.
they are evacuating Marakina, which is below sea level, and schools are closed. But all of this is "business as usual" during the monsoon season, so not a big deal.
we are ok so far.
but the reason I am blogging at 4am is that I woke up when the roof leak dripped on my feet. We closed two leaks, but this is a new one we'll have to fix.
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but in perusing the local papers, I ran across an item that the Gov't is planning to evacuate our OFW from Nicaragua.
Ruby has been worried about the unrest, since one of her classmates (from her international high school in Canada) had been texting about this.
but usually one can tell if things are really dangerous in the world when the OFW leave, and although the gov't is planning evacuation, so far most are staying.
Shoichi Naito, at the controls of the water scooter, and others rescue elderly residents in the Mabicho district of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on July 7. (Provided by Ikumi Tomita)
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