"Life lost to power outage"-Does Typhoon No. 15 in Chiba live?-September 9 17:05

A power outage kills people's lives.

One such incredible thing happened on September 9, last year, just one year ago, in Typhoon No. 15 when a record storm hit Chiba Prefecture.

Is there a way to prepare for a large-scale power outage that can be called a "new disaster" that creates a weakness in modern society?

While the issue of power outages caused by typhoons nationwide has become an issue, we visited various sites in Chiba Prefecture where measures are being taken with lessons learned from Typhoon No. 15.

(Social Department reporter Yutaka Sano)

What on earth did a woman who died in a blackout...

Noriko Watanabe.

Three days after Typhoon No. 15 hit Chiba prefecture, he died on the suspicion of heat stroke while the blackout continued.

I was 82 years old.

Why did Watanabe-san have to die?

“Yume no Sato,” a nursing home for the elderly in Kimitsu City, Chiba Prefecture, told us in detail when we interviewed him.

What I learned during the interview was that Mr. Watanabe had lost his life due to "blackouts at multiple facilities."

Uninterrupted power outage I can't treat at a hospital...

At 3:00 am on September 9, last year, when Typhoon No. 15 hit Chiba Prefecture, the facility was hit by a power outage and water interruption.

However, he says he thought that the facility would recover soon.

This is because on the 10th, the day after the power outage, TEPCO announced that it would recover in 99% of the areas within 10 days.

While the temperature was over 30 degrees Celsius and I could not use the air conditioner, I tried desperately by putting a towel containing cold spring water around the neck of the resident in order to manage to recover electricity.

However, contrary to TEPCO's explanation, the power outage never recovered.

Watanabe-san had a high fever and was spotted in a loose state on the morning of the following day.

He immediately called an ambulance and was transported, but he was refused by five hospitals because he was unable to provide sufficient medical treatment due to a power outage.

I was hospitalized 6 hours after the first transfer.

After that, Mr. Watanabe died without his symptoms recovering.

Hiroshi Amasa, the director of “Yume no Sato,” regrets those days.

Hiroshi Amagasa

"I couldn't really feel that the power outage would be so difficult at the beginning. When I heard that I was dead, I felt it was a big deal."

"Electricity triage" Hope you see?

1 year after that.

What should I do to avoid making sacrifices like Mr. Watanabe?

What I paid attention to during the interview was the "Electricity Triage" being promoted by Chiba Prefecture.

What is necessary for "electric power triage" is a power supply car.

This is a vehicle that supplies electricity to hospitals and welfare facilities where there is a power outage, owned by electric power companies such as TEPCO, and dispatched at the request of prefectures and local governments.

However, due to the turmoil of Typhoon No. 15 at the time, the dispatch to the life-threatening facility was delayed.

The power car arrived at "Yume no Sato" the day after Mr. Watanabe died.

Chiba Prefecture's “electricity triage” began with these lessons.

In order to quickly deliver the power supply vehicle to the required facilities, we prioritized the facilities to deploy.

There are four priority levels.

▽Special A =Facilities with people using ventilators, etc.

▽A =

Facilities with an

emergency generator operating time (when the fuel is full) less than 1 day

▽B =Emergency generator operating time (fuel Facilities with a full tank time of less than 1 to 3 days

▽ C = Other facilities

As a result of proceeding with the survey, all surveys were not finished, but there were about 170 special A locations.

There are more than 300 power vehicles deployed in Chiba Prefecture due to Typhoon No. 15.

We found that if we preferentially send this number to the special A facility, the power supply could be covered.

Challenges of "Power Triage" Some facilities cannot be helped...

But there are challenges.

In this category, Watanabe-san's "Yume no Sato" is considered to be A.

In other words, the facilities of A also have the risk of human life, but it has reached about 2000 places.

Power supply vehicles that are expected to be deployed are not enough, and it is expected that difficult decisions will be made in practice.

The issue of "electric power triage" that has reached its limits as the research progresses.

Chiba Prefecture believes that there is a limit to what all facilities can do with just a power supply car.

Mr. Osamu Hisamoto, Chief, Chiba Prefecture

“The number of power supply vehicles is limited. If the power outage is prolonged over the entire Chiba prefecture, it will be overwhelmingly insufficient. We will take measures against power outages at each facility, keeping in mind that power supply vehicles will not come Is important.''

Measures to prevent blackouts What is "preventive logging"?

Then, can we not stop the power outage in the first place?

When I looked into the countermeasures from such doubts, Isumi City in the southern part of Chiba Prefecture was pushing ahead with other local governments.

It is "preventive logging".

"Preventive felling" is a measure against "fallen trees" that was a major cause of the power outage of Typhoon No.15, and trees in the vicinity of electric wires are felled in advance to prevent power outages.

The collapse of steel towers and electric poles is flashy, and it is easy to make an impression, but in fact, out of 1750 electric poles in Chiba prefecture, more than 1300 were caused by "fallen trees."

(Including some due to collapsed houses)

Since the cause of this fallen tree is removed in advance, it is expected to exert a great effect as a measure against power failure.

This year, Isumi City is advancing “preventive logging” by extracting 19 locations along the power transmission route leading to facilities related to life, such as hospitals and facilities for the elderly.

Challenges of "preventive logging" Desolate forests

Why is preventive logging necessary?

When Teruo Hirano, who has been involved in forestry for 40 years in Isumi City, guided me through the forests, I was able to see some of them.

When I arrived there, the first thing I noticed was the myriad of cedar trees that had broken off from the roots and from the middle of the trunk.

Each one is narrow, but the intervals are narrow, and it seems that they are crowded.

This barely managed mountain forest is at risk of blackouts due to fallen trees.

Teruo Hirano

“The trees that were planted in the Showa era are no longer thinned. That is why they are tall only. Without thinning, the roots weaken, and when strong winds come, they tend to collapse. There are many forests. It can be said that there are many places like that."

Challenges of "preventive logging" Huge cost burden...

While the number of unmanaged forests is increasing year by year, few local governments, such as Isumi City, can take “preventive logging”.

In addition to the enormous cost burden, local governments are saying that it is difficult to use the "preventive logging" subsidy system.

The government provides subsidies for thinning forests near power lines and power poles, but it is difficult to use for “preventive logging” because it is necessary to replant trees at the places where they were felled. It has become.

In addition, TEPCO, which manages electric wires and power poles, is also working on what is called "maintenance logging", which cuts down forests that are likely to come into contact with electric wires on a daily basis.

However, as a general rule, we do not cut trees to prevent damage to fallen trees, and the basic idea is to not bear the cost of “preventive logging” by local governments.

Meanwhile, Isumi City, Chiba Prefecture, decided to take “preventive logging”.

By the time of the typhoon season, we have to pay the full cost, even in high-risk areas.

The budget is 19 million at 19 locations.

When I interviewed Mayor Hiroshi Ota, he said, "There is a limit to what we can do with the city's financial resources."

Mayor Hiroshi Ota, Isumi City

"With the cooperation of the four parties that include the country, prefecture, municipalities, and TEPCO, I would like to see the financial resources taken by adding support systems and support systems so that preventive logging can be carried out smoothly. Protecting the living infrastructure is a common theme, so it is important not only Isumi City to do it, but to promote wide-area collaboration and work together."

The facility also takes measures on the assumption that "help will not come"

Even after one year has passed since Typhoon No.15, countermeasures have not progressed at all, but the residents of the nursing home "Yumenosato", a nursing home for the elderly, has begun to take measures by themselves.

First, the facility decided to purchase a large emergency generator.

If the fuel is full, it will be possible to supply power at a level that will not hinder the operation of the facility for three days.

Even using the national subsidy, the cost burden was over 40 million yen.

We are also preparing to secure fuel.

Along the typhoon No. 15, a long line was formed at the gas station amidst the delay in logistics.

For this reason, we have entered into an agreement with a nearby gas station to supply fuel preferentially.

Do not step on the same ruts as Typhoon No. 15.

Mr. Amagasa, the chairman of the board, says that he is making preparations with this thought.

Chairman Amagasa

"I don't know if the power car will come or not. It's a big expense but I can't replace the life of a person. I have to deal with it promptly at a facility where there are elderly people and sick people. It's really irretrievable. There is a part of the cost burden in terms of operation, and it may be okay, but I think that experience from that time must be linked in the future."

Do Typhoon No. 15 Lessons Live?

While visiting the site of the power outage countermeasures, I felt that the government, the electric power company, and the facilities are trying to proceed within the scope of what they can do now.

However, the measures are still not enough.

Just the other day, Typhoon No. 10 caused a large-scale power outage in Kyushu and other areas, so we caught the power outage as an immediate crisis, and the government and the community work together to support the facility. I think it is necessary to take measures.

Social Affairs Department reporter

Yutaka Sano Entered in

2006.

Since the beginning of the typhoon No. 15 when he belonged to the Chiba station, he has been covering the disaster area.