In Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, where a tremor with a seismic intensity of 6 or higher was observed in the earthquake on the 16th of last month, there were few volunteers due to anxiety about the spread of the infection, and the labor shortage continued. I'm not proceeding as I expected.
In Soma City, where the damage is particularly serious, more than 1,600 housing damages have been confirmed so far, but the disaster investigation has only completed about half of the nearly 4,000 applications.
As a countermeasure against the new coronavirus, the acceptance of volunteers was limited to Soma citizens who had completed the third vaccination, so few people gathered and restoration work was delayed.
Under these circumstances, in the disaster area, a volunteer group made up of local residents and people from Tokyo and Kumamoto is helping with the restoration work, and on the 16th, five staff members were at a guest house near the tourist attraction Matsukawaura in the city, and a crack occurred. I went in, demolished the tilted wall, and carried out the blocks.
So far, this organization has received 60 requests, and it is said that we are working while listening to the requests of each victim.
Ryoichi Kikuchi, who helped with the work, said, "It's been a month since the earthquake struck, but I'm cleaning up every day. It's really helpful to have volunteers work on it."
Junni Ide, who came from Kumamoto and participates in the activities of this group, said, "I was taken care of by people in the Tohoku region due to the Kumamoto earthquake six years ago, so I was hoping to give back. Volunteer activities themselves have become difficult due to the influence of Corona, but I would like to take part in the reconstruction with my thoughts. "