I can't live in this house anymore September 23, 18:33

Houses with blue sheets on their broken roofs.

I never imagined it would still be there a year ago.


Typhoon No. 15, which struck Chiba Prefecture last September, damaged more than 81,000 homes.

When I visited the disaster-stricken town for the first time in a long time, I saw people who continued to live in unrepaired houses with various thoughts, and those who decided to destroy the house and leave the city.

(Chiba Broadcasting Station reporter Kazuyuki Ogaki)

The victim said, "You won't be talking about it on TV."

I entered the area affected by Typhoon No. 15 in the southern part of Chiba prefecture the day after the damage.

Houses without roof tiles that you can see every time you drive or walk around the city.

I was surprised that the damage had spread throughout the Chiba and Boso Peninsulas.

Every day I run around to cover the damage.

However, there were a series of posts on SNS saying that the media did not report the situation in the disaster area.



While feeling apologetic and regrettable, there are some words that left a lasting impression on me when I interviewed the victims.

It is a word that the landlord woman muttered with a resigned face in a house where rainwater oozes out.

"The flood didn't cause the house to flow, and if you want to live, you can live.


That's not a topic on TV

.

"

Although I was shocked by the words, I continued to interview, saying that I had to tell what I should tell.



However, it will be difficult to visit the site for a while due to the declaration of an emergency due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.



I heard from a telephone interview that the restoration was affected, but in August, I was able to visit Kyonan Town, Chiba Prefecture, where the damage was severe.

Even after a year, the blue sheet ...

It



was a serious situation

to see that "there are still blue sheet houses"

.


Even one year after the typhoon damage, many houses were still affected by the typhoon, and the roofs and walls were still covered with sheets.

A year of surviving the rain and wind with a sheet

When I called out at one of them, a man invited me to my house even though I met him for the first time.



"The second floor is already like this."

When I saw the situation at the end of the stairs that I was guided to, I took a breather.



The wall that collapsed greatly has an exposed skeleton, barely covered with a sheet, but hangs down to the ceiling.

The site that was damaged in September last year remained unrepaired.

Mr. Tetsufune Funada, 70 years old, lives alone in this house.



Mr. Funada talked about the process leading up to this point.



With the help of the Self-Defense Forces and volunteers, I asked them to put up a sheet on the roof and managed to survive the rain and wind and lived on the first floor.

It's been a year since I wanted to repair it, but realized that I couldn't fix it because I didn't have the money.

"I can't live in this house" Decided to leave the city

I can't live in this house anymore.



However, I couldn't get enough of it because it was a house that my late mother had a hard time building.

After his father died, he worked as a nurse and borrowed money to build a house.

Mr. Funada


"Because it

's

a house built by my mother, when I think of her, I feel like I don't want to leave."

However, Mr. Funada decided to leave the house after this year.

"It's like that, so I'm forced to move."

Repairs do not proceed and damage gradually ...

Many people have suffered even worse during the past year.

Mr. Toshio Amiyo, 78 years old, told me the story.


The houses were separated from the main building, and about 80% of the roof tiles were blown away, and most of the windowpanes were broken.

It was certified as "half-destroyed" and I immediately had a contractor put up a blue sheet, but most of it came off due to the typhoon one month after it came again.



Leakage continued, the ceiling, which had nothing to do immediately after the disaster, hung down greatly, and mold spread on the attic.

Mr. Amiyo


"I think it wouldn't have happened if we had dealt with it a little earlier."

Repair cost is about 3.6 million yen Home cannot be repaired

Mr. Amiyo searched for a local repair company, but he was flooded with requests and was not immediately accepted.



I finally found a vendor who could give me an estimate, but according to the estimate I received in August, the repair of the roof and shutters alone cost nearly 3.6 million yen.



The damage has worsened over the past year, and repair costs have increased accordingly.

Public support is only about 600,000 yen.



The income of fishing boat shops in the family business is unstable, and there is no room for savings.


In the end, I decided to dismantle the detachment, repair the roof of the main building and the shutters to the minimum necessary, and live with my family.



In Kyonan Town, even after a year, only 36% of the homes that want to be repaired have been completed.



In the meantime, the deterioration of the house will continue to progress.

In some areas where one-fifth was demolished

The Iwaifukuro district facing the sea was the hardest hit in the town.



The landscape of the district has changed completely since the beginning of the damage.


A vacant lot that stands out in dots.

Many of the broken houses had been demolished.

Of the 120 houses, 25 were demolished, which is about one-fifth.

I visited the house of the person I talked to before, but it was gone.

A woman in her 60s, who lives in a house with a blue sheet on, heard that there was a fraudulent case in which the repair fee was deceived, and even asked for repairs became scary.

A woman in her 60s


"I don't know where to go with my elderly mother even if I dismantle it.


I'm embarrassed that the repairs are delayed, so I hesitate to talk to people."

After a year, I felt that people who couldn't even ask for help had been missed before I knew it.

The day when we finally leave the town

In September, the day has finally come for Mr. Tetsufune Funada, who decided to dismantle his house, to leave the town.



Since you will enter a welfare facility outside the town and live a communal life, you can only bring your personal belongings with you.


You can't bring the remains of your mother.

Mr. Funada


"I'm lonely. I can't


say anything, I'm lonely

.

"

Mr. Funada's home will be demolished soon.


In Kyonan Town, one-third of the houses that have been damaged more than "half-destroyed" are inevitably demolished.

"I'm worried about being forgotten" Searching for volunteers

A site where three people are putting up a sheet on the roof of a building that is nearly 100 years old.

It is these volunteers who support Imamachi.

On this day, I was trying to stop the worsening of the damage by replacing the damaged blue sheet with a highly durable sheet.

The landlord's man


"Thank you for taking care of me many times."

A total of about 2,600 houses have been worked on.



However, due to the influence of the new coronavirus, it is difficult to call for support from outside the town, and currently there are only about 10 volunteers, including locals.

Mr. Shibuya


"I'm worried that a small town like Kyonan will be forgotten while disasters are occurring all over the country.


But the disaster is still going on."

"It is important not to break the connection"

Through trial and error, a volunteer group has started a footbath initiative on how to support those who are left behind from the reconstruction.

We ask people to put their feet in the hot water and relax while consulting with the people affected by the disaster.

There was an elderly woman who was coughing, so when I was guided to my house, the inside of the house was full of mold.

Mr. Sasao:


"As the number of residents is decreasing, I would like to see efforts to create local connections. There are many requests from the government, but I think it is important to maintain these connections first."

What can i do now

Demolition continues and vacant lots increase.



This situation was something that many people were worried about right after the typhoon.


And that is now a reality.



Disaster experts also say that it is necessary to apply the lessons learned from the damage caused by Typhoon No. 15 to support the victims in the future.

Professor Emeritus Yoshii


"Prefectures should conclude an agreement in advance to create a mechanism that allows contractors to be dispatched from outside immediately. In addition, the roof will break and the damage will worsen day by day. The national support system does not envision disasters. If the victims request, we must re-examine the damage situation and provide public support in line with it. "

"Disasters are still going on"

In the interview, I could see the current situation of the disaster area, which is far from reconstruction even one year after Typhoon No. 15.



--- One year is not a turning point.

The disaster is still going on.



This is my feeling now.



Keeping this in mind, I will continue to cover it.


Joined in 2017



after working as a reporter for the

Chiba Broadcasting Station

Kazuyuki Ogaki

.


We have been interviewing the site since the beginning of the typhoon No. 15 disaster.