Okinawa calls in Japanese ground troops after typhoon leaves Ishigaki short of water

Okinawa Prefecture asked the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force for disaster relief on Saturday evening after Typhoon No. 30 knocked out electricity across Ishigaki Island and left parts of the city without running water. According to the Yaeyama Nippo, the prefecture submitted its request to the ground force's 15th Brigade at 8.18 pm local time on 24 October, asking troops to move residents to a base with bathing facilities and to provide bathing support there. Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo also reported the request and linked it to the power and water outages on the island.

The baths are being set up at the ground force's Camp Ishigaki. Ishigaki City announced on Saturday night that residents should gather at the citizens' plaza on the ground floor of city hall instead of travelling to the camp on their own. Three runs were scheduled to leave at 10.45 pm, 11.15 pm and 11.45 pm, each with room for 20 men and three women on a first-come, first-served basis. The city asked people to bring their own towels, clothes and toiletries and told anyone feeling unwell not to use the service.

The prefecture said a large-scale power cut on the island had stopped the water supply in some districts of the city. Because there was no clear timetable for restoring electricity, officials judged that residents might be unable to bathe for an extended period and decided that outside help was needed. The city also opened free phone-charging spaces at city hall and at community centres in Kabira and Ibaruma, although residents had to bring their own chargers and cables.

Earlier on Saturday, Ryukyu Shimpo reported that the storm was about 90 kilometres north-northeast of Yonaguni Island at 10 am, moving slowly east-northeast at about 15 kilometres per hour and largely stalled, with a central pressure of 980 hectopascals and gusts of up to 45 metres per second, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Fallen trees had dragged down power lines and blocked lanes in Ishigaki, and on Yonaguni a girl suffered a minor head cut from broken window glass on Friday night. Okinawa Electric Power said 11,080 households in Ishigaki and 14,190 across the prefecture were without power at 10.30 am, and Ishigaki city hall itself ran on emergency generators from late Friday morning until 8.40 am on Saturday.

The storm warning for the Ishigaki area was lifted at 1.11 pm on Saturday, but the damage was widespread. Yaeyama Nippo reported that up to 14,490 households lost power across the three municipalities of the Yaeyama Islands and that fallen trees, damaged buildings and landslides were reported in Ishigaki and neighbouring Taketomi. Ryukyu Shimpo described the rain across the Sakishima Islands as record-breaking, reported that Iriomote Island recorded 402 millimetres in the 24 hours to 12.40 pm on Saturday, and said that by 6 pm the typhoon was moving north across the East China Sea at about 30 kilometres per hour.

The request turns the garrison on Ishigaki, in the Sakishima island group at the south-western end of the Japanese archipelago, towards civil support as the islands recover. The reports did not say how many soldiers were taking part or how long the bathing service would continue, and they did not indicate whether further support such as water deliveries had been requested.