Unusually heavy snow killed at least 30 people in Japan in the past two weeks, officials said on Tuesday, as the government deployed troops to help clear huge drifts that left residents in the country’s north struggling to leave home.
Authorities recorded up to 4.5 metres (14 feet) of snowfall in parts of the worst-hit northern region of Aomori where many of the deaths took place, including a 91-year old woman whose body was found beneath a three-metre pile of snow outside her house.
A major weather system has dumped huge volumes of snow along the Sea of Japan coast in recent weeks, with some central and northern areas of the main Honshu island seeing more than twice the usual amounts.
The central government has deployed troops to help local authorities cope and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday to instruct her ministers to do all they could to prevent further deaths.
Television images showed residents having to walk through trenches dug into the heavy snow, while drivers struggled to avoid their vehicles getting stuck.
Many local schools were closed and public transport services had been suspended in some areas.
Authorities must prioritise snow removal, a resident of Aomori city, the regional capital, told local broadcaster RAB on Tuesday after he helped to extract a stuck van.
“They must block traffic from the morning and clear snow. Otherwise, there is no solution to this,” the unnamed man told RAB.
Authorities were deploying trucks and heavy machinery to attempt to shift the snow, but had not been able to keep up with the unending precipitation, officials said.
Walls of snow as high as 1.8 metres in Aomori city prevented even government officials from reporting to work, regional governor Soichiro Miyashita told a press conference.
“The snow is so heavy around the regional government building that even our staff cannot convene, even if we were to call emergency meetings,” he said.
Since January 20 through Tuesday, 30 people have died as a result of the snow, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Among them was Kina Jin, 91, whose body was found under snow at her home in Ajigasawa, Aomori, a local police official told AFP on a condition of anonymity.
Police believe snow from her rooftop fell on her. The cause of her death was suffocation, the official said.
“As it gets warmer, the accumulated snow melts and falls. It depends on the volume (of snow) and the temperature. Under the rooftop is a dangerous place,” the official told AFP.
A local elderly woman thanked troops Monday after they cleared snow from her home in Aomori city.
“If they hadn’t come, my house would have collapsed either today or tomorrow,” she told local broadcaster ATV.
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