Temperatures rose above 35 degrees at 38 locations in 11 prefectures by noon on Aug. 11, turning up the heat on survivors of the March 11 disaster at evacuation centers and temporary housing.
Temperatures rose above 35 degrees at 38 locations in 11 prefectures by noon on Aug. 11, turning up the heat on survivors of the March 11 disaster at evacuation centers and temporary housing.
The Meteorological Agency said temperatures were expected to exceed 35 degrees in 29 prefectures from Aomori to Miyazaki, and many people were taken to hospital after complaining of heat-related symptoms.
By 12:30 p.m., temperatures hit 37.6 degrees in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture; 37.3 degrees in Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture; 37.2 degrees in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture; and 37.1 degrees in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture.
In central Tokyo, the mercury topped 35 degrees by noon for the first time since late June.
In Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, about 100 evacuees are staying in 14 classrooms without air conditioning at Minato Elementary School.
The temperature hit 33.5 degrees at 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 11 in Ishinomaki. It was above 32 degrees inside classrooms in the late afternoon of Aug. 10.
On average, only two electric fans can be used in each classroom because the circuit breaker is tripped if more are used. The school relies on a household electricity supply system after its original system was damaged by the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In July, two evacuees were taken to hospital with heatstroke.
"I feel like I'm in a sauna," said a 34-year-old woman who lives in temporary housing in Sendai's Wakabayashi Ward. "I want to use as little air conditioning as possible to save money."
The room temperature was above 33 degrees on July 10, and the woman's 4-year-old daughter suffered heatstroke in their temporary housing unit in early July.
In July, 1,098 people were taken to hospital due to heatstroke in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which were hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. The figure is four to five times higher than an average year.
Since the beginning of August, 202 people have suffered heatstroke, nearly half of them 65 years or older.