Massive rainstorms hit western Japan early July,?? ??? causing large-scale damages in many parts of Hiroshima Prefecture.
According to an official announcement of the Hiroshima prefectural government, the storms caused, as of July 24, 225 cases of human casualties, including 107 deaths, seven missing, 29 major injuries and 82 minor injuries.
There have been 12,448 cases of housing damage reported, including 332 of total destruction, 1,808 cases of partial destruction, 2,099 cases of above-the-ground floor-water inundation, and 4,011 cases of below-the-ground floor-water inundation.
Additionally, 99 cases of damage or destruction reported related to social infrastructure facilities such as medical and dental care facilities, special care facilities for seniors, juveniles or people with special needs. Infrastructure has received extensive damage throughout the prefecture, particularly roads and waterway control systems facilities such as rivers and dams.
The damage to those “life-line infrastructure systems” — such as highways and local roadway systems, and water/gas distribution systems — have affected areas with a high percentage of elderly residents particularly hard, creating a temporary partial paralysis situation for a period of two weeks or longer in some instances.
Faced with this crisis, the prefectural government acted promptly by quickly securing the national government’s assistance with the emergency dispatching of Self-Defense Forces troops and all-out deployment of local first responder teams of the local municipalities.
On July 26, Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki announced that a comprehensive strategic plan for the prefecture-wide recovery/rebuilding programs has been initiated with a completion target date of early September. Also, ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) Japan, a globally known nongovernmental organization, has started a globally directed campaign to raise funds to assist in the prefectural government’s recovery efforts.
Some municipalities in the disaster-affected areas, such as Higashi-Hiroshima and Mihara, have started their own fundraising initiatives towards quick and effective recovery of their respective regions.
To render its own efforts in the recovery process in Hiroshima Prefecture, Nanka Hiroshima Kenjinkai (HKSC) has decided to start a 2018 Hiroshima Disaster Relief Fund Drive.
The deadline date of this fund drive initiative is Saturday, Aug. 25. Be sure to write on the check “2018 Hiroshima Disaster Relief Fund” and send it to: Hiroshima Kenjinaki of SC, Attention: Tak Sorida, 712 E. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
All funds collected in this drive will be sent to the Japan Red Cross’ Hiroshima Office for distribution to the disaster victims. For more information, contact Tak Sorida, HKSC president, via email at [email protected].