About 1,100 vehicles were stranded on a freeway and more than 10,000 homes were shut down on Thursday due to heavy snow that hit a large area along the coast of the Sea of Japan, the government reported. the police.
Snow has disrupted several road and train services since Wednesday and is expected to continue to fall sharply until Friday in these regions, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. He warned of further traffic disruptions due to slippery roads.
Vehicles stop at Kanetsu Highway in Niigata Prefecture on December 17, 2020.
(Photo courtesy of Yoshinobu Wakiya) (Kyodo)
Vehicles stop at Kanetsu Highway in Niigata Prefecture on December 17, 2020.
(Photo courtesy of Yoshinobu Wakiya) (Kyodo)
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said self-defense forces were deployed in Niigata prefecture after receiving a disaster relief request from Governor Hideyo Hanazumi.
Troops will be tasked with distributing food, fuel and blankets, as well as confirming the safety of residents, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato.
The government has set up a working group to deal with the snow, and in total more than 10,000 homes have lost power in Niigata, northwestern Tokyo, and Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan, among other places, according to Kato at a press conference.
According to Niigata police, about 1,100 vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Kanetsu Highway, which connects Tokyo and Niigata.
Vehicles stop at Kanetsu Highway in Niigata Prefecture on December 17, 2020.
(Photo courtesy of a driver) (Kyodo)
Vehicles stop at Kanetsu Highway in Niigata Prefecture on December 17, 2020. (Kyodo)
According to police and East Nippon Expressway Co. highway operator, a line of cars stretched up to 16.5 miles at one point Thursday morning. The congestion came after a trailer was trapped in the snow near a Minamiuonuma interchange in Niigata prefecture on Wednesday night.
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the Cabinet in the afternoon, Suga urged citizens to “continue to be sufficiently suspicious of traffic disruptions and damage to facilities, as well as the snow falling from the roofs and avalanches, and that they make the necessary preparations before ”.
A 30-year-old woman who had been stranded in a car near an interchange in Minamiuonuma was taken to hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties, according to local rescue workers.
“I have no information. I want to know what the current situation is and what time I will be able to get out,” said a forty-year-old truck driver from Niigata prefecture, who spent the night trapped on the road while trying to deliver goods to the prefecture of Gunma.
Some 300 vehicles were also trapped at a point on the Joshinetsu Highway, which connects Niigata, Nagano and Gunma prefectures, after a truck was unable to move on Wednesday night. The blockade lasted until ten o’clock on Thursday morning.
East Nippon Expressway distributed food, water and portable toilets to drivers who were stranded on both highways.
Some areas of the country have seen record levels of snow. Minakami in Gunma prefecture was 217 centimeters in a 72-hour period until Thursday morning, while Yuzawa in Niigata prefecture saw more than 180 cm from 8 a.m. onwards.
People are trying to remove snow from the roof of a house in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on December 16, 2020. (Kyodo) == Kyodo