1 year from typhoon No. 15 in Chiba, Japan. Reconstruction delay is a problem September 9 1:02

Typhoon No.15, which suffered enormous damage mainly in Chiba Prefecture last September, lasted 9 days.

Only about half of the requests apply for repairs and dismantling of houses using the public support system, and the delay in rebuilding the lives of the victims is an issue.

It has been one year since Typhoon No.15, but restoration work in the disaster area has not progressed sufficiently due to the lack of contractors and the spread of new coronavirus infection.



In Chiba prefecture, as of the end of July, 60% of the applications were repaired with public assistance, and in half of the applications, demolished construction was completed for houses that were certified as completely destroyed or half destroyed. Staying



Under these circumstances, in addition to be about 600 households now not stand the prospect of housing reconstruction and repair has been forced to live in public housing and the so-called "deemed temporary", has continued to live in housing that remain, such as the roof is broken Currently, there are many people, and the delay in rebuilding the lives of the victims is an issue.

The background of the power failure due to fallen trees

In Typhoon No. 15, power poles and wires were damaged, and up to 640,000 homes in Chiba Prefecture were cut off.



Damaged power poles amount to approximately 1,700 locations in Chiba prefecture, of which approximately 1,300 were due to fallen trees.



Teruo Hirano, who has been involved in forestry in Isumi City, Chiba Prefecture for over 40 years, points out that the background of the power outage due to fallen trees is the increase in unmanaged forests.



According to Mr. Hirano, the number of forests that are poorly managed, such as thinning, is increasing due to the aging of forest owners and the decline of forestry.



According to Mr. Hirano, the roots of trees in such forests are weakened, and it is easy for them to fall down due to strong winds such as typhoons. Management is getting out of control. I think there is a possibility that fallen trees due to typhoons will continue to occur in the future."

Preventive logging to prevent blackouts

An effective measure to prevent power outages due to fallen trees is "preventive logging" that cuts trees around utility poles and wires in advance.



While some local governments have begun to work on their own after the damage caused by the power outage of Typhoon No. 15, problems such as cost burden are emerging.



Of these, it is difficult to expect much for owners due to the decline of forestry and aging, and TEPCO also "maintenance logging" that cuts branches right next to electric wires based on the standards of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. However, the basic idea is that it is difficult to carry out large-scale logging alone at a cost.



Against this backdrop, local governments have begun to implement “preventive logging” on their own in order to quickly prepare for typhoons.



Last year, Typhoon No. 15 caused a blackout of more than 5,000 houses, and Isumi City in Chiba Prefecture spent 30 million yen from the city's financial resources and started preventive logging this July.



Since the budget is limited, for the time being, we plan to focus on the power transmission route to important places such as hospitals and welfare facilities for logging.



Mayor Hiroshi Ota of Isumi City said, "I didn't want to use my financial resources if possible, but I knew the fear of the power outage, and if TEPCO could not do so, the municipalities decided to do so to protect their lives."



In addition to Isumi City, some local governments are considering logging using the national subsidy system for the purpose of developing forests near important infrastructure such as electric wires.



However, in this subsidy system for the purpose of forest maintenance, it is necessary to cut trees and then plant trees again at that place, and currently, in the "forest plan" established by Chiba prefecture, trees that grow high must be planted. about it.



If the trees that were planted after being cut grow to a higher level, they could affect the electric wires again.



Because of this concern, Chiba Prefecture would like to create new guidelines in the future so that Chiba Prefecture will not have to plant trees that grow high in areas around electric wires so that municipalities will not hesitate to use the subsidy system. is.