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At least 77 dead in Japan as heatwave pushes temperature to record 41.1 deg C
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A department store employee places numbers showing a temperature of 41.1 deg C on a large thermometer board in Kumagaya, Saitama prefecture, on July 23, 2018.PHOTO: AFP
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Walter Sim
Japan Correspondent
TOKYO - Tokyo marks exactly two years to the start of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on Tuesday (July 24) amid a murderous heatwave that is taking its toll throughout Japan.
The mercury soared to a scorching 41.1 deg C in Kumagaya city in Saitama prefecture in the Greater Tokyo region at 2.16pm on Monday (July 23), setting a new record for the highest temperature that has ever been logged in all of Japan.
This topped the previous record of 41.0 deg C set in August 2013 in Kochi prefecture in western Japan.
In the Japanese capital, the temperature also breached 40 deg C for the first time on Monday (July 23), with a reading of 40.8 deg C registered in the western district of Ome.
At least 77 people, mostly the elderly, have died, including a pupil who fell unconscious after a school outing last week, and more than 30,000 have been taken to hospital for heat exhaustion or heat stroke this month.
The crippling heat has also complicated relief efforts in western Japan, which was pummelled two weeks ago by historic rainfall that caused flooding and landslides, killing at least 222 people and displacing thousands from their homes.
A tally by public broadcaster NHK on Monday (July 23) showed that as many as 38 Tokyo residents could have died due to the heatwave this month, with 21 deaths recorded between Friday and Sunday. The victims were in their 40s to 90s.
At least nine people died on Monday, the Kyodo news agency said. In the south-western prefecture of Miyazaki, nine high school students who were watching a baseball game were stricken and taken to hospital, with some in severe condition.
Two Singaporeans who live and work in Tokyo also experienced symptoms of heat exhaustion over the weekend.
Ms Nur Rosmawati, 27, who works in international business development at a publishing house, told The Straits Times that she “blacked out for a few seconds” during a five-minute walk between her home and a nearby convenience store on Saturday morning (July 21).
“It was not sheltered but I had my umbrella with me. At the entrance of the convenience store, I started to feel faint and my ears started to ring,” she said, adding that she recovered after she ate an energy bar and had a hydrating drink.
“The humidity now is somewhat similar to that in Singapore, but the temperatures are way higher,” she said.
What makes matters worse is that malls and offices in Tokyo tend not to turn down the air-conditioning, as part of energy conservation measures.
Ms Layla Tan, 28, an international business adviser who has lived in Tokyo for 3½ years, too fell victim to heat exhaustion on Sunday.
“First I felt a migraine-like headache. I drank lots of water but by then it was too late,” she said. “The headache got worse, and I started feeling nauseous, followed by muscle aches.”
She said she sought outpatient treatment when she felt better. The Tokyo Fire Department dispatched ambulances 3,125 times on Sunday alone, the largest number in a single day since it began emergency services in 1936, Kyodo reported.
While weather forecasts show some slight respite for Tokyo this week, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official Motoaki Takekawa told reporters on Monday that wide areas across Japan will continue to experience temperatures above 35 deg C until early August.
This is due to two high-pressure systems that have compressed warm air to the ground, akin to two thick layers of blankets covering the Japanese archipelago, the JMA said.
The JMA has issued advisories covering nearly all of Japan except northernmost Hokkaido – which has been spared the heatwave – urging people to drink more water and take adequate measures against heatstroke.
Dr Joel Myers, president of weather forecasting site AccuWeather, said in a statement that the actual death toll from the heatwave may be well higher as heat-related deaths are difficult to pinpoint, particularly those complicated by deteriorating health issues.
“The elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma and heart failure, are likely to face declining health due to exacerbation of their conditions due to weather,” he said.
“Heat exhaustion and stroke, dehydration, migraines, loss of sleep and mood alteration can all occur due to dangerous heat.”
In Australia, where summer temperatures can soar to as high as 45 deg C, the intense heat has killed more people than any other natural hazards.
The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said that the elderly are more prone to heat stress than young people because they do not adjust as well to sudden changes in temperature.
The elderly are more likely to suffer from chronic medical conditions that alter the normal body response to heat, or are more likely to take prescription medicine that may inhibit perspiration.
AccuWeather noted that the current heatwave blanketing Japan has led to temperatures “well above” the normal high temperatures in July, which typically average 29 deg C in Tokyo.
Even so, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told a news conference on Monday that she was not taking any chances when the Tokyo Olympics kick off in two years.
Describing the recent experience as akin to “living in a sauna every day”, she vowed to ensure adequate measures will be taken to protect both athletes and spectators.
These include mobile misting stations and asphalt-insulating technology that is said to lower temperatures by as many as 8 deg C.
Beyond that, a host of events will begin earlier in the so-called “early-bird Olympics”, with the men’s 50km race walk to kick off at 6am instead of the originally-scheduled 7.30am.
“We will continue our efforts to push for new technology for all athletes, spectators and inbound visitors, so that our cumulative efforts will make it more comfortable for everyone,” she said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...perature-to-record-high-41-1-degrees-10554966
Japan heat wave pushes temperature to record high 41.1 degrees Celsius
FILE PHOTO: A volunteer, for recovery work, uses a pack of refrigerant to a cool down as she takes a break in a heat wave at a flood affected area in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, July 14, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
23 Jul 2018 02:05PM (Updated: 23 Jul 2018 03:28PM)
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TOKYO: Japanese officials issued new warnings Monday (Jul 23) as a deadly heatwave blankets the country, producing record high temperatures in Tokyo just two years before the city hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Officials said last week that the heatwave had killed at least 15 people and forced the hospitalisation of over 12,000 others in the first two weeks of July.
But the death toll may be more than double that, with Kyodo News agency reporting 11 people died on Saturday alone across Japan.
An updated official toll is expected later this week.
The heatwave has toppled temperature records across the country, with Kumagaya in Saitama outside Tokyo setting a new nationwide record on Monday with temperatures hitting 41.1 Celsius.
This year's record temperatures have surprised residents and officials alike, and revived concerns about the 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be held in July and August in Tokyo. (Photo: AFP/Martin Bureau)
And in western Tokyo's Ome, temperatures hit 40.3 degrees Celsius, the first time temperatures over 40 have been recorded in Tokyo's metro area.
Records fell at 13 other observation stations across the country, with more than a dozen cities and towns seeing temperatures around 40, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
"People in areas where temperatures are as high as 35 degrees or higher should be extremely careful" to avoid heatstroke, meteorological agency official Minako Sakurai told AFP.
"And at even lower temperatures, the heat can be dangerous for small children and elderly people, and depending on the environment and activities you are doing," she warned.
"People should be all the more careful as many people must be exhausted after days of cruelly hot weather," she added.
Japan's disaster management agency has urged people to use airconditioning, drink sufficient water and rest often while at work.
Temperatures hit 40.3 degrees Celsius in Ome, the first time temperatures over 40 have been recorded in Tokyo's metro area. (Photo: AFP/Martin Bureau)
The heatwave follows record rainfall that devastated parts of western and central Japan with floods and landslides that killed over 220 people.
Japan's summers are notoriously hot and humid, and hundreds of people die each year from heatstroke, particularly the elderly in the country's ageing society.
But this year's record temperatures have surprised residents and officials alike, and revived concerns about the 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be held in July and August in Tokyo.
Olympic officials and Tokyo's local government are touting measures from solar-blocking paint on roads to mobile misting stations to tackle the heat.
Source: AFP/mz
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https://sg.news.yahoo.com/japan-heatwave-kills-over-dozen-12-000-rushed-083411858.html
Japan heatwave kills over a dozen, 12,000 rushed to hospital
AFP News22 July 2018
Children play in a water fountain in a Tokyo park as a heatwave grips Japan
Japan's severe heatwave killed at least 15 people and sent more than 12,000 to hospital in the first two weeks of July, official figures show as the temperature neared 40 degrees C (104 F) in many cities on Sunday.
Twelve people died of heatstroke in the week ending July 15 after three perished in the preceding week, according to latest data.
More than 9,900 people were rushed to hospital during the week to mid-July, jumping from 2,700 in the previous week, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
The scorching weather shows no signs of easing.
Kyodo News agency reported that at least 11 people, mostly elderly citizens, died on Saturday alone from suspected heatstroke.
A total of 3,091 ambulances were dispatched in Tokyo on Saturday, a record for a single day, it said.
The weather agency said Sunday's temperatures exceeded 35 degrees C at 233 observation points across the nation by mid-afternoon.
It hit a local record of 39.8 degrees C in the central city of Gujo Sunday afternoon, while in some parts of Tokyo the temperature rose past 37 degrees.
The weather agency issued a warning of extraordinary high temperatures for most regions of Japan's main island.
"Risks of heatstrokes are particularly high," it said, urging citizens to drink enough water and use curtains and air conditioning.
The education ministry has told schools to postpone outdoor activities on hot days. A six-year-old boy died of heatstroke last week after a school outing in sweltering weather.
