1 Month Since Noto Heavy Rain: Do Not Let Up Support for The Rebuilding of People’s Lives

Editorial

15:00 JST, October 21, 2024

Monday marked one month since heavy rain hit the areas affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Local communities and residents have suffered serious harm as a result of the succession of natural disasters. There must be no letting up of support for the rebuilding of people’s lives.

In the heavy rain, 14 people died and nearly 50 people were injured due to landslides and other factors. More than 1,000 houses were destroyed or flooded, and many residents in municipalities such as Wajima and Suzu are still forced to live in evacuation shelters.

Nearly nine months after the earthquake, when the areas were beginning to recover, they were hit by this heavy rain. Some people were forced to evacuate again, this time from the temporary housing that had just been constructed. The shock to the residents caused by the successive disasters is immeasurable.

In addition to dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake and heavy rain, local governments are also busy preparing for the upcoming House of Representatives election. After the earthquake, the central government set up a support base for reconstruction efforts in the region. This base should be fully utilized to strengthen support measures for the affected areas.

The lives of residents must be rebuilt as quickly as possible. In particular, securing housing is a top priority. Repairs to temporary housing and other facilities damaged by the heavy rains must be sped up, so that no one will have to live in evacuation centers.

And with the harshness of winter approaching, sufficient attention must be paid to the elderly and other people still living in evacuation centers, so that their health will not be impacted.

In some affected areas, the water supply reportedly is still cut off. Without a stable living environment, it will be difficult for residents to resume work. Infrastructure and road networks should be restored in an efficient manner, so that people can return to their normal lives as soon as possible.

For disaster areas to recover, they will need not only the efforts of the central and local governments, but also the help of volunteers. It takes a lot of manpower to clean up damaged houses and to remove the mud inside them. Such tasks require physical labor, which is challenging for the elderly.

To ensure that volunteers from all over the country can carry out their activities smoothly, the central and local governments need to pay sufficient attention to the situation, such as by effectively dispatching volunteers to where they are needed and improving the work environment, including transportation and accommodation.

In his policy speech, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged to improve the conditions in evacuation centers. At present, whenever a disaster occurs, affected people are forced to sleep on the hard floors of gymnasiums and are also unable to eat hot meals. This cannot be allowed to continue.

The evacuation centers are run by local governments. But in the event of a disaster, local government officials are often affected by the disaster themselves and are unable to respond effectively. For this reason, there have been cases in recent years where the management of evacuation centers has been outsourced to the private sector. The problems experienced by evacuation centers in Noto should be examined and the findings used to ameliorate the situation.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 21, 2024)