[ti:Southwestern Japan Takes Steps to Deal with Flooding, Coronavirus] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Boxes of face coverings, bottles filled with anti-bacterial agents [00:06.64]and a sign saying "Please wear a mask" [00:10.60]mark the entrance to a recreation center in Yatsushiro city. [00:18.28]The building serves as shelter for people who have fled [00:22.40]floodwaters in southwestern Japan this week. [00:27.40]Inside the building, pieces of cardboard separate sleeping areas [00:33.00]for over 200 men, women, and children. [00:37.64]Another sign tells those staying there to take their temperature each morning. [00:44.24]Such measures show the difficulties Japan is facing [00:48.20]as it deals with natural disasters in the time of coronavirus. [00:55.04]Japanese officials have been warning local leaders [00:59.04]to include coronavirus measures in their disaster preparations. [01:04.88]Residents have been urged to seek shelter with friends or family members, if possible, [01:11.68]to avoid overcrowding in evacuation centers. [01:17.28]Aiko Ishimura, a 78-year-old retiree, [01:22.00]learned from neighbors on Monday about evacuation orders. [01:26.60]She lives alone and had planned to shelter at home. [01:31.60]But she chose to flee with neighbors. [01:35.92]For Ishimura, spread of the coronavirus is not a top concern. [01:42.64]"We don't have many cases here in the first place. [01:47.16]We don't really do the whole mask-wearing thing," she added. [01:53.12]However, Ishimura said she keeps a mask in her pocket. [01:59.08]Kumomoto prefecture, where she lives, [02:02.56]has had only 49 of Japan's more than 20,000 cases of the disease COVID-19. [02:11.24]Those numbers come from the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. [02:17.60]That compares with close to 7,000 in Tokyo, [02:22.04]where cases are on the rise again among its 14 million residents. [02:28.48]Misa Matsuda, a 48-year-old medical worker, [02:32.88]knows well about the yearly floods in the area. [02:37.08]She also had planned to remain at home. [02:40.20]But she got a big surprise Monday when she opened her door. [02:45.36]She found river water flowing just a few meters from her home. [02:51.28]"I thought, there's no way the water would come up here to our house, [02:55.84]where it's a bit of a hill," she said. [03:00.04]Extreme weather disasters have become increasingly common in Japan recently. [03:06.76]Last year, Typhoon Hagibis killed nearly 100 people. [03:12.32]That storm struck a year after more than 200 died in western Japan [03:18.56]in the worst flooding in many years. [03:22.52]Matsuda said she was not too concerned about the new coronavirus [03:27.60]because basic safety measures were being taken. [03:31.36]But she did worry that residents would gather in the shelter to talk, [03:36.84]creating the sort of crowded conditions officials say increase infection risk. [03:44.96]City official Takanobu Ono said the evacuation center was limited to 300 people. [03:52.92]It can hold up to 500 people. [03:57.08]"Some of (the residents) have just been saved by the skin of their teeth," he said. [04:04.00]"The reality is that coronavirus is less of a concern for them... [04:09.36]So we're taking the measures we have to but we haven't been so strict about it." [04:16.76]Close to 60 people have died from floods [04:20.00]and landslides caused by heavy rains across the area since Saturday. [04:27.04]I'm Ashley Thompson. [04:28.48]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM