NAGANO, Japan (AP) – the death Toll and destruction from Typhoon Hagibis rose Tuesday as the Japanese government counted at least 53 dead and considered approving a special budget for disaster response and reconstruction.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary session that the death toll linked to Typhoon Hagibis has risen to 53 and is expected to rise as at least nine more people are presumed dead. Kyodo News Agency, citing its own count, reported that the death toll is 69 people.

Abe promised to do everything possible to ensure the safety and rescue of the missing or those forced to evacuate.

“We put people’s lives first,” he said.

Hagibis hit Japan’s main island on Saturday with strong winds and historic rainfall that caused more than 200 rivers to overflow, leaving thousands of homes flooded, damaged or without power. Rescue crews on Tuesday were still searching for the missing, believed to number about 20 people.

About 34,000 homes were left without electricity and 110,000 without running water. More than 30,000 people were still in shelters late Monday, according to the Cabinet office.

Business was almost normal in downtown Tokyo, and residents in areas where floodwaters had subsided began cleaning up. However, lives remained paralyzed in Nagano, Fukushima and other affected areas that were still flooded.

Some Nagano residents returned to their homes to find them uninhabitable.

Retired carpenter Tositaka Yoshimura, who grew up in the Tsuno district of Nagano, was stunned when he returned to his home after staying at an evacuation center during the storm. His house was a mess. Doors were knocked out, handmade furniture was thrown around and damaged, and everything from futon to electronics was broken and covered in dirt.

“I put a lot of effort into this house. I made all the furniture with my wife. Now look what happened in one day, ” he said, his voice trembling with emotion. “Now it makes me want to cry.”

At least some of his memorable photos with family and relatives were intact, along with the toys and games his younger relatives played with as they gathered at his home.

“I’m glad they survived. at least, ” said his nephew Kazuki Yoshimura. “Maybe we can still do something about home, but nothing can be more valuable than life.”

In Fukushima, 11 bags containing possibly radioactive soil and debris removed as a result of the decontamination of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant were washed from two outdoor temporary storage facilities and found downstream, the Ministry of the environment Said. Most of the remaining 5,000 bags stacked at these two sites – one in Tamura city and the other Iitate-remained in place.

There was no risk to the environment because the waterproof bags were intact and not leaking, the Ministry said. However, she said that in anticipation of future downpours, officials will take preventive measures.

A huge number of such bags are stored at 760 similar sites throughout Fukushima. Their transfer to a longer-term storage facility near the plant is expected to be completed by March 2022.

Speaking in Parliament, Abe said there were concerns about the long-term effects of the hurricane in hard-hit areas. He promised emergency support to residents.

Abe said the government is funding the disaster response from a 500 billion yen ($4.6 billion) special reserve from the 2019 fiscal year budget and could draw up an additional budget if necessary.

West Japan Railway Co. said its Hokuriku Shinkansen train, connecting Tokyo and Kanazawa in the Central North, was shortened due to the flooding of six trains at the Nagano railway plant. Trains sat in a pool of murky water up to their Windows.

Questions were raised about the location of the railway plant, which is in an area marked on the Prefecture’s hazard map as a flood zone. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the operator’s readiness should be investigated, but the priority is to get the trains out of the water. Some of the water has been pumped out, but more than half of the railway yard is still under water.