Victims Mourned 5 Years after Flooding in Nagano

Jiji Press

16:03 JST, October 13, 2024

NAGANO (Jiji Press) — Local residents gathered Sunday to mourn victims of flooding that struck Nagano, five years ago, when Typhoon Hagibis triggered the overflowing of the Chikuma River.

About 80 people gathered in a ceremony at a disaster prevention center in the Toyono district and offered a silent prayer to the victims.

“I didn’t anticipate a disaster happening to me,” said Keiji Kurata, 43, whose house was flooded at the time. “I want to always remember that ‘I’m sure it will be all right’ is not sufficient.”

Nagano Mayor Kenji Ogiwara, speaking in the ceremony, said: “I think there are resentment and anger among affected people as their lives have yet to return. We’ll take your thoughts seriously and work on administrative management.”

The Chikuma River flooded its banks on Oct. 13, 2019. In Nagano, about 4,300 homes were flooded and 18 people were killed.