Many bags of radioactive waste were swept into the Furumichi River in Tamura City after Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan, causing massive floods.

Tamura city government in Fukushima prefecture, central Japan, said the bags were used to temporarily store grass and leaves collected during radioactive decontamination from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. However, on the evening of September 12, workers discovered some bags of waste that disappeared after the Typhoon Hagibis made heavy rainfall, causing many rivers to overflow.

Officials told NHK broadcaster that workers soon found six bags of waste still intact, but some were thought to have been swept down the Furumichi river by floodwaters.

A total of 2,667 bags of radioactive waste were stored temporarily at the site, where there were no barriers to prevent them from heavy rain and high winds, the Asahi Shimbun said.

The Ministry of Environment said the results of radiation measurements in the waste storage and downstream areas of the Furumichi River have not changed. The agency affirmed that radioactive concentrations were relatively low and had little effect on the environment.

The area around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was contaminated after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the three reactors to melt. Radiation seeps into groundwater and rainwater as well as the surroundings of the plant.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant is now storing slightly radioactive water in 1,000 large tanks with a total capacity of one million tons. The Japanese government also collected about 30 million tons of radioactive waste around the factory area, put it in big bags and put it in temporary storage places.

The worst Typhoon Hagibis in decades hit central and eastern Japan on the evening of October 12, causing at least 176 rivers to collapse, flooding residential areas and landslides in 11 provinces. The number of people killed by the storm has increased to nearly 70 as of October 15.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that the impact of Hurricane Hagibis on the economy could be prolonged and the government will do everything to recover from the storm, bringing people back to normal life as soon as possible. The Japanese government has also set aside $ 6.5 million from the emergency reserve fund to recover from the disaster caused by Typhoon Hagibis.