No.95 Response to Typhoon Disasters

In recent years, typhoons have been getting larger and slower, tending to bring prolonged rainfall to the same area. This year, significant damage has also occurred.
Typhoon No. 15, which made landfall near Chiba City just before 5 a.m. on September 9, 2019, is said to be the strongest ever recorded to make landfall in the Kanto region. The city opened voluntary evacuation centers the night before, established a disaster response headquarters at 9 p.m., and continued response efforts until 7 a.m. the following morning.
This typhoon had strong winds, causing numerous fallen trees throughout the city and significant damage to crops. The amount of pears dropped during the harvest season, based on interviews conducted by City Hall and the agricultural cooperative, was 15,160 kilograms, with an estimated damage cost of about 12 million yen. Although the amount is unknown, 16 vegetable farmers also suffered damage, along with other agricultural facility damages.
Chiba Prefecture in particular suffered extensive damage, with a large-scale power outage affecting approximately 640,000 households at its peak, making it the largest blackout since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Restoration took more than two weeks, and a large-scale water outage also occurred due to the stoppage of pumps at water purification facilities.
The city loaded blue tarps, sandbags, and bottled drinking water onto two dump trucks and sent them as relief supplies to Kisarazu City. Additionally, staff were dispatched to Kimitsu City for nine days to assist with house damage assessments and the issuance of disaster victim certificates.
It was found that prolonged power outages during Typhoon No. 15 could lead to water shortages. The city has been strengthening the securing of drinking water and water for daily use in line with the expansion of damage estimates each time a large-scale disaster occurs, and we would like to take this situation as a lesson as well.

Typhoon No. 19, which made landfall on the Izu Peninsula just before 7:00 p.m. on October 12, 2019, brought record-breaking heavy rain to the Kanto, Koshin, and Tohoku regions, causing extensive damage. The city established a disaster response headquarters at 10:30 a.m., completed the opening of all 21 evacuation centers for wind and flood damage by 11:00 a.m., and issued an evacuation advisory at 2:00 p.m. Around 4:00 p.m., the Tama River exceeded the flood warning level, and staff on patrol reported a possible overflow of the Omaru Yatogawa River. Since this tributary of the Tama River could cause inland flooding, leading to widespread inundation mainly in the Oshitate area, I requested the dispatch of a large drainage pump truck from the Keihin River Office, which manages the Tama River under the Kanto Regional Development Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. This heavy machinery also participated in the regional disaster drill held on October 6, 2019, so many people may have seen it. Departing from Chiba Prefecture, it arrived in Inagi just after 10:00 p.m. and carried out drainage operations until around 3:00 a.m. on the 13th, which helped prevent flooding.
During this typhoon, several landslides occurred in the city, but there were no human casualties. However, in Tokyo, six rivers including the Tama River and Asakawa River flooded, causing inundation damage in Hachioji City, Ome City, Akiruno City, Chofu City, Komae City, Setagaya Ward, and other areas. As of the 16th, it was reported that levees collapsed at 90 locations along 59 rivers in seven prefectures, including the Chikuma River in Nagano Prefecture and the Abukuma River in Fukushima Prefecture, and flooding occurred in 24 rivers managed by the national government and 229 rivers managed by 16 prefectures and municipalities.
In Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, water supply facilities were damaged, causing a large-scale water outage. After receiving a request from the Mayor of Soma City for the dispatch of water supply vehicles early afternoon on the 13th, the vehicles departed from the fire station at 8:30 p.m. that day and were delivered to Soma City Hall shortly after 2:00 a.m. on the 14th.
During Typhoon No. 19, the city experienced its first large-scale evacuation, with 1,375 households and 3,481 people evacuated at the peak. An unprecedented wide-area flood disaster also occurred across eastern Japan. We will continue to provide support going forward and aim to apply the lessons learned to flood and wind disaster countermeasures in Inagi City.
We pray for the souls of those who lost their lives in the repeated typhoon disasters, express our sympathy to all those affected, and wish for a swift recovery.