Western Japan, other areas hit by heavy rains to receive extra gov't aid

The Japanese government decided Tuesday to allocate additional subsidies to areas recently affected by heavy rains to help with recovery efforts, while evacuees in western Japan face growing uncertainty about where to settle and when to rebuild their lives.The plan, approved by the Cabinet, will designate damage caused by the downpours between May 20 and July 10 as a great catastrophe and provide 10 to 20 percent more subsidies to municipalities than it usually does for smaller disasters.Along with Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime and other western Japan prefectures -- where devastating floods and…READ FULL ARTICLE