A day after unprecedented floods inundated parts of northern Kanto, evacuees in washed out Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, wondered whether their lives would ever return to normal.
"I'm worried about my home ... I've never imagined the banks of the (Kinugawa) river would collapse like this," said Joso resident Yoshiro Kimura, 70, on Friday after spending a restless night in an emergency shelter in neighboring Tsukubamirai with his wife, Yasuko, 61.
In scenes reminiscent of the March 2011 tsunami, heavy rain from Typhoon Etau on Thursday caused the 4-meter-high east bank of the Kinugawa River to fail in northern Joso, releasing a deluge that submerged neighborhoods, swept away cars and homes and left residents stranded on rooftops.