石川いしかわ 輪島わじま「緊急きんきゅう避難ひなん場所ばしょ」見直みなおし 1か所かしょ代替だいたい施設しせつが見みつからず

As the rainy season approaches, new challenges are emerging in the areas affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

In Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, it has been revealed that, among the emergency evacuation sites designated to protect residents from flood danger, one location was damaged by heavy rains last September and is now under review due to concerns about its safety, but a replacement facility has not yet been found.

As evacuation sites to protect yourself from disasters, local governments designate facilities or places for urgent evacuation as emergency evacuation sites, and facilities where residents can stay for a certain period as evacuation shelters.

In the four cities and towns of the Oku-Noto region in Ishikawa Prefecture, 152 locations have been designated as emergency evacuation sites for urgent escape from floods. However, four of these sites in Wajima City suffered above-floor flooding damage during the heavy rains last September.

When NHK interviewed the city about the current status of these four locations, it was found that all of the facilities are still designated as emergency evacuation sites. Of these, two locations can be evacuated to the second floor, and one location remains designated because there are effectively no users in the surrounding area.

On the other hand, it was found that the Urakami Community Center in Monzen-machi, Wajima City—the remaining one location—is within the prefecture’s designated flood risk area. Although there were discussions about reconsidering its use since it is a single-story building and cannot ensure safety, no alternative facility has been found.

This community center serves as an emergency evacuation site for about 160 people affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake who are living in the temporary housing complex Urakami No.1 Complex.

In the housing complex, disaster victims have established a self-governing organization and are working on creating their own evacuation plan, but since there are no evacuation sites nearby, the challenge is how to safely evacuate elderly people and others.

Wajima City stated, We are also considering transporting elderly people and others who may have difficulty evacuating to alternative evacuation sites by bus.

Professor Motoyuki Ushiyama of the Shizuoka University Center for Integrated Disaster Information, who is knowledgeable about evacuation during disasters, said, “Due to limited land and facility circumstances, there are cases where municipalities have no choice but to designate emergency evacuation sites in areas that may be at risk of disasters.”

It is not necessarily only emergency evacuation sites that serve as places to escape from disasters, so it is important to not only inform residents and others about risk information, but also to prepare for disasters in normal times by selecting other safe locations.

The evacuation of elderly people has become an issue in creating an evacuation plan for Urakami Dai-1 Danchi. Although the area suffered flood damage during the heavy rain disaster last September, the Urakami Community Center in Monzen Town, Wajima City, is still designated as an emergency evacuation site to protect residents from the danger of flooding. Nearby is the temporary housing complex Urakami Dai-1 Danchi, where about 160 victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake currently live.

During the torrential rain disaster, 32 out of 79 households—about 40%—suffered flood damage above floor level. Therefore, the residents association of the temporary housing community is working on creating an evacuation plan ahead of the rainy season.

The Urakami Community Center, which is designated as an emergency evacuation site, is located in an area where the prefecture expects flooding. Since it was inundated above floor level during a heavy rain disaster, we believe it cannot ensure safety during heavy rain or similar events.

For this reason, when alerts such as sediment disaster warning information are issued, the local community organization has decided that, if early evacuation is possible, residents should evacuate to either Monzen Junior High School, which is located over 3 kilometers away on higher ground, or Monzen Community Center, which is situated away from the river.

However, the challenge is how to get to distant places.

Since some elderly people do not own cars, we think that about 160 people will need to evacuate by sharing around 80 cars, each carrying only the minimum necessities for living.

However, during weekdays when residents are out for work, it may not be possible to secure this number of vehicles.

The autonomous organization aims to create an evacuation plan as soon as possible, explain and inform the residents of temporary housing, and also call on nearby residents and others to cooperate with the evacuation.

A 76-year-old woman living in temporary housing said, After the torrential rain disaster, I feel scared whenever a heavy rain warning is issued.

Im worried that I might not be able to evacuate with everyone because I have trouble with my legs, they said.

Mr. Takashi Yamazaki, a firefighter and chairman of the residents association, said, We want to make sure that the residents of the temporary housing are aware of the evacuation plan, and also encourage regular communication among residents to prepare for disasters.

Emergency evacuation sites According to the Cabinet Office, in Wajima City, emergency evacuation sites designated by the municipality are places where people urgently evacuate to protect their lives from disaster risks, and they are designated for different types of disasters such as landslides, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes.

In the guidelines created by the Cabinet Office for municipalities, it states that, regarding location conditions, the site must be recognized as a place where there is no risk of danger to human life or body, and that areas such as sediment disaster warning zones or flood-prone areas are not applicable.

The emergency evacuation sites in Wajima City designated by Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, include four facilities that suffered above-floor flooding during the heavy rain last September: the Fureai Health Center, Machino Community Center, Nishiho Community Center, and Urakami Community Center. All of these were emergency evacuation sites intended to protect people from the dangers of flooding.

Of these, both the Fureai Health Center and the Machino Community Center are reinforced concrete buildings with two or more floors, and in both cases, the first floor was flooded above floor level due to the heavy rain.

The Cabinet Office states that if emergency evacuation sites damaged by disasters continue to be designated, residents should be informed about safety measures, such as the need to evacuate to the second floor or higher of another building.

The city is informing residents, through hazard maps, to evacuate to the second or third floor where safety can be ensured in the event of flooding or similar disasters.

However, both Nishibo Community Center and Urakami Community Center, which do not have emergency evacuation areas above the second floor, are single-story wooden buildings, so if there is flooding above floor level, it is not possible to evacuate to a second floor.

Of these, regarding the Nishibo Community Center, Wajima City states, Since lifeline services have not been restored and there are no residents living nearby, we have not reviewed its designation.

On the other hand, regarding the Urakami Community Center, Wajima City has stated, Since there are no alternative facilities nearby that can be used as evacuation sites, we have no choice but to designate it as such.

If evacuation is expected in advance, I am considering using an alternative evacuation site.

We are also considering transporting elderly people and others who have difficulty evacuating to another evacuation site by bus.