More and more schools and companies reopened Tuesday in the torrential rain-ravaged prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime.
In these three prefectures particularly hard hit by the disaster, the number of public elementary and junior high schools that were temporarily closed as of Friday was 153 in 17 municipalities. About 20 percent of them, 28 schools, in 11 municipalities, resumed classes on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 104 schools were still closed for reasons such as that they are unable to confirm the safety of school routes or gave up restarting classes and moved up the start of their summer vacations.
In Hiroshima Prefecture, many employees of Mazda Motor Corp. went to headquarters in their cars on Tuesday morning. Though the automaker prohibited workers to individually drive to the office, it permitted those who carpooled with other employees.
As activities of some companies and schools started to return to normal, some measures were taken to relieve traffic congestion. For cars traveling between Hiroshima and Kure, both in Hiroshima Prefecture, National Highway Route 31 was the only available road on Tuesday. It currently takes about three hours one way.
In the morning and evening commuting hours, the prefecture, West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) and other entities decided to operate temporary buses on the Hiroshima-Kure Road currently usuable only by emergency vehicles. This is part of their efforts to reduce commuting hours a great deal.
In the morning, there was only one ferry service linking Hiroshima and Kure. As the ferry left Kure at the 8 o'clock hour, commuters were not able to arrive at schools and offices in time. Thus, it was decided to increase the service with a ferry leaving at 6:35 a.m.
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