[January 07, 2006] 3RD LD: Heavy snowfall leads to relief efforts by ground troops+ Tweet (Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NAGANO, Japan, Jan. 7_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING WITH LATEST INFO) Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force dispatched disaster relief units to Nagano and Niigata prefectures Saturday to help deal with heavy snowfall as the meteorological agency warned snow will continue blanketing northern to western Japan over the weekend. As of 7 p.m. Saturday, six more people were confirmed to have died due to snow-related incidents. That brings the death toll to 63 since the snow season began in early December, according to a Kyodo News tally based on reports from authorities. The number of people injured amounted to 1,010 in 26 prefectures. Public transportation was affected, with the Joetsu Shinkansen bullet train line suspending operation and the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line experiencing delays. The GSDF Matsumoto garrison sent a disaster relief unit to Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture, to remove snow in the first such mobilization of a GSDF unit in Japan this winter. It is the first time Nagano Prefecture has received such assistance since January 1981. The Nagano prefectural government made the dispatch request to the GSDF Friday night. A GSDF disaster relief unit was sent to the city of Tokamachi and the town of Tsunan, both in Niigata Prefecture, upon the request of the Niigata prefectural government. In Iiyama, about 100 GSDF personnel began removing snow on roads so ambulances and other emergency vehicles can pass, and around houses that could be isolated due to snow, garrison officials said. More than 200 centimeters of snow had accumulated in Iiyama as of early Saturday. The Nagano Local Meteorological Observatory has forecast up to 70 cm of snow for the area between Saturday and Sunday. The Japan Meteorological Agency said cold air of minus 30 to 40 C will pass over western, eastern and northern Japan as a strong winter pressure pattern has emerged near the country. But snowfall is expected to decrease from Monday with the pattern weakening, it said. As of 5 p.m., Tsunan recorded 357 cm of snow, the city of Myoko in Niigata Prefecture 324 cm and the village of Nozawaonsen in Nagano 309 cm. A total of 34 observatory points had marked new snowfall records for the month of January as of Saturday. Up to 70 cm of snowfall is expected by 6 p.m. Sunday in Niigata and Nagano prefectures, 50 to 60 cm in Hokkaido and Sea of Japan coastal areas in the Tohoku region, 30 to 40 cm along the coastal areas in the Hokuriku region excluding Niigata, the northern Kinki region and Gifu Prefecture. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]