Kyushu Expressway to Fully Reopen Fri. Some 2 Weeks after Quake

Kumamoto, Aug. 13 (Jiji Press)–The Kumamoto prefectural government said Thursday that the Kyushu Expressway will be fully reopened to traffic for ordinary vehicles Friday morning, more than two weeks after the July 28 powerful earthquake. The expressway in the Kyushu southwestern region has been partially shut due to damage from the earthquake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale. Kumamoto is part of the region. “This is a great step forward,” Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said. “A ray of hope is shining through.” According to the prefecture’s disaster response headquarters and West Nippon Expressway Co., or Nexco-West, both the inbound and outbound lanes between the Matsubase Interchange in the city of Uki in Kumamoto and the Ebino Interchange in the city of Ebino in Miyazaki Prefecture, a Kumamoto neighbor, are slated to reopen Friday morning. The Kumamoto prefectural government also said that 179 local schools, including 29 prefecture-run junior high, senior high and special-needs schools and public elementary and junior high schools in five areas, such as the cities of Uki and Yatsushiro, where damage from the quake was heavy, are expected to be able to resume classes on Sept. 1. In the Kumamoto town of Hikawa, where water outages continue affecting about 1,800 households, water supplies have been restored in some districts by Thursday. Water supplies gradually restarted on the night of Tuesday, according to Kazuya Matsuda, a 67-year-old resident. “I was finally able to take a shower, so I’m happy,” he said. Matsuda said he was washing his body and doing laundry in a nearby river while running water was not available following the earthquake. About 21,860 households in Yatsushiro and roughly 4,100 households in Uki have also been hit by water outages. The prefectural government aims to resolve the water issues by the end of this month. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]