Two years after a heavy rain in western Japan, the victims who could not "return" even if they wanted to return were at 6:38 on July 6th.
When NHK conducted a questionnaire to more than 3,500 victims of the four prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, and Yamaguchi, which were heavily damaged by the heavy rains in western Japan, nearly 40% of those who continue to live in temporary housing returned to the area before the disaster. We found that nearly 30% of the people who want to live on their own, but do not want to go back, have different hopes for their home reconstruction site.
From May to June, NHK conducted a survey targeting over 11,000 victims of the four prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, and Yamaguchi, and received responses from 3540, or 32%.
Among them, we asked 450 people who are still forced to live in temporary housing such as temporary housing and “deemed temporary housing” where the government rented private apartments, etc. to see if they would like to return to the place where they lived before the heavy rain and live It was.
As a result, “I think” reached 38%, while “I don't think” was 26%, and “I can't say either” was 21%.
In addition, when asking the reasons with multiple answers to those who answered "I do not think", "I am worried that I will suffer the same disaster" was the most with 71%, followed by "There is no fund to rebuild the house" Was 36%.
The woman who selected "I want to go back"
Kanako Seo is one of the respondents who answered "I want to go back" to Mabi-cho, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama in a questionnaire.
Mr. Seo who lived with his family in a room on the first floor of an apartment in Mabi-cho at the time of heavy rain in western Japan. The room was flooded with water due to the heavy rain, but it was safe because I had evacuated in advance. Now, with my husband and two children, we are living in a temporary housing house in Kurashiki city, about 15 minutes away from our original home by a total of four people.
Mr. Seo wanted to return to Mabi-cho because he wanted to reopen the beauty salon where he worked before the heavy rain.
Mr. Seo has been working as a hairdresser for nearly 20 years at the beauty salon where his mother was running on the second floor of his parents' house. The beauty salon was flooded with heavy rain, but tools such as scissors and mirrors were not washed away. While living as an evacuee, many regular customers asked me to "recommend me in Mabi-cho", so I decided to open my own beauty salon.
The construction of a house that doubles as a store has already begun, and will be completed in August this year, and the store will be open in September. Another important reason for Mr. Seo's decision to return to Mabi-cho is that he emphasized the environment for raising children.
Both twins in the first grade of elementary school have developmental disabilities, and their behavior is more intense than that of their children of the same age. Supporting local people, which is essential for Mr. Seo, who works as a married couple. I thought it would be good for the children to return to Mabi-cho, where there are people who know two people well.
At the beginning of the newly built house, considering the preparation for water damage, we originally planned not to have a window on the second floor where the children's room could go, but we prepared only one so that we could escape in case of emergency.
Mr. Seo said, “Of course I was worried that I might suffer similar floods again, so it was a difficult choice whether or not I would return to Mabi-cho, but it is easy to continue to be a hairdresser and raise children in Mabi-cho. We decided that it was best to live in an environment."
Women who choose "I don't want to go back"
Reiko Bando responded to the questionnaire that she didn't want to return to live in Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
The reason for this is that "I'm worried that I'll have a similar disaster again."
Ms. Bando rented a house in Mabi-cho, Kurashiki-shi eight years ago and moved to a new family. The house was completely flooded to the height below the knees on the second floor due to heavy rain in western Japan. The family were left behind and were rescued by boat on the afternoon of July 7th.
Now, about 20 minutes by car from Kurashiki city, I live in a temporary house in Kurashiki with my husband, the eldest son of the second year of middle school, and Ritsuhiko.
At the time of the heavy rain, Ritsuhiko, who was in the sixth grade of elementary school, wrote down his own experience immediately after that.
The words spelled by Mr. Ritsuhiko in the experience note.
"On July 7, 2018, Tanabata, but a brown river was flowing in front of me, not the Milky Way."
"Mabi-cho seen from the 4th floor of the evacuated hospital was like a full-scale sea.
" It was a shock because the town was so busy that it looked like it was ruined.” A
heavy rain in western Japan left a big scratch on the elementary school students' minds. Ritsuhiko says that he was still afraid of rain, and he started checking the status of rain clouds on his smartphone every time it rained.
In Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City, flood control measures such as strengthening the functions of river banks that have collapsed due to heavy rain are underway, but even after that, the risk of flood damage does not go to zero. Looking at the eldest son who is worried about the rain even after heavy rain, he says that he cannot choose to go back and live.
Mr. Bando said, "I think children feel more afraid than adults and we can't heal their hearts completely. I think that when we go back to Mabi-cho, we will remember that time more. We don't have the option to go home."
Expert "Hardware and software measures are important to accumulate"
Satoshi Mimura, director of the Osamu Osamu University Research Center for Reconstruction Planning, which is located in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, said, ``Because the victims felt the greatest fear in their lives, Healing isn't easy, and it's unavoidable that it takes time," he added. "In order to make people feel secure that they can go back and live, hard measures such as strengthening the functions of dikes and information It is important to accumulate software measures to realize rapid evacuation, such as improving the way delivery is provided.”