Kumamoto Kuma River Basin Past experience is a hindrance to evacuation 19:35 on July 14
In the Kuma River basin of Kumamoto Prefecture, which was heavily damaged by heavy rain, flooding has repeatedly occurred in the past. Some of the people who were affected this time thought that they were okay based on their past experience of flood damage, and that evacuation was delayed.
Nobuo Fuchigami (80) lives with his wife, Fumiko (73), in a house in Shimo-Aoi Town along the Kuma River in the center of Hitoyoshi City.
I have lived in the same place for over 70 years.
Flooding frequently occurred around the area, and when the Kuma River flooded in 1965, it flooded near the ceiling on the first floor, but after that, the river could be leveeed or the house could be rebuilt to raise the floor height. As a result, it was not seriously damaged.
Mr. Fuchigami woke up with the sound of heavy rain before 5:00 am on the 4th of this month when there was a record heavy rain.
When I looked around, the water level on the Kuma River had risen to a level I had never seen, so I decided to head to the evacuation center while calling on the neighbors to evacuate.
However, because he had forgotten the materials used in local activities, Mr. Fuchigami decided to return home.
At that time, the water level was just below the knee, and Mr. Fuchigami thought that he would think that the water damage in 1965 would mean that "the water will not come to the second floor. If it becomes necessary, evacuate to the second floor." That is.
However, the water level rose steadily and greatly exceeded the floor on the second floor.
Mr. Fuchigami was climbing up on the balcony and standing for at least 8 hours until 4 pm, waiting for rescue.
The electric pole near my house shows the water level around the time of the 1964 flood, but this time it has been greatly exceeded.
Mr. Fuchigami said, “I thought that after 1965, the damage was not severe and I would be okay when I returned to my house. The amount of water and the speed at which it overflowed made me feel more dangerous than I had imagined. I can no longer live here. I'm wondering."
On the other hand, Fumiko said, "I didn't feel like it would be useless for a few hours when I couldn't get in touch. Some people living in the neighborhood died because evacuation was delayed because there was no damage even if the flooding had occurred until now. Some people have gone by."
Kuma River Inundation Repeated levees will also be inundated this time
The Kuma River, which was flooded by the heavy rain this time, has often been flooded, and the municipalities in the basin have been damaged.
According to the Yatsushiro River National Highway Office, in July 1965, the Kuma River flooded due to heavy rainfall in various places due to the stagnation of the rainy season front.
In the municipalities in the river basin, a total of more than 1200 houses were washed away or damaged, causing serious damage.
Due to this flood damage, levee development was promoted in the Kuma River basin, and at least nine floods occurred after that, but there was no damage to houses that exceeded the flood damage of 1965.
Evacuation Behavior Expert “Rainfall intensifies, disaster exceeding past experience”
Associate professor Shosuke Sato of the International Research Institute for Disaster Science, Tohoku University, who is familiar with evacuation in the event of a disaster, erroneously argued that the record "he came to here" about the height and range of inundation caused by flood "just hits here". There is a problem that evacuation will be delayed and damage will increase due to the change.”
On top of that, he said, "Intense rainfall may cause unprecedented damage. This time, different areas may be flooded, and higher heights and areas may be flooded." I want you to have the possibility."