安倍首相が福島県入り＝台風１９号の被災地視察

　安倍晋三首相は１７日午前、東日本を縦断した台風１９号の被災状況を把握するため、多くの死者を出した福島県を訪問した。首相は記録的大雨で冠水した郡山市の中央工業団地を視察。同市内の避難所を慰問した後、氾濫した阿武隈川流域の本宮市の浸水現場や避難所を訪れた。
　首相は同日午後に福島県庁を訪れた後、堤防決壊などで大きな被害が出た宮城県丸森町を視察。被災者から生活再建に向けた要望を聞き取る。（2019/10/17-11:58）

The Japanese government plans to designate recent powerful Typhoon Hagibis as a "specified" disaster, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during a visit to an affected area Thursday.
   The government plans to formalize the designation soon. The designation provides benefits to disaster victims, such as the extension of the expiration dates on their driver's license and the valid period of restaurant operation permits, and the suspension of bankruptcy procedures.
   Abe unveiled the plan in talks with reporters in the town of Marumori in the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi, where massive flooding occurred as a riverbank broke due to the 19th typhoon of the year.
   Among natural disasters in Japan that were designated as specified disasters in the past were the earthquake that ravaged the western city of Kobe and surrounding areas in 1995, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami mainly in the Tohoku northeastern region, the 2016 twin earthquakes in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto and the 2018 torrential rains in western Japan.
   "I saw the tremendous scars left by the disaster and listened to the hardships of afflicted people," Abe said. "We'll do whatever we can so that people can go back to living in safety as quickly as possible."