No.144 Support for the Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Last year, the long COVID-19 pandemic finally came to an end. This year is the Year of the Dragon, and to pray for the revival of social life and economic activities, I visited various shrines in the city for the New Year's celebrations starting at midnight. After finishing my visit to Anazawa Tenjin Shrine, I was participating in a local New Year gathering when a major earthquake occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The Inagi City Fire Department began collecting information immediately after the outbreak of the disaster and received the first report from the Fire Chief on New Year's night. We confirmed the safety of our Friendship City, Nozawa Onsen Village, and checked the situation with the National Association of Young Mayors, with whom we have a disaster support agreement. At that time, there was no movement, but we instructed that preparations be made to respond immediately if a request is made.

On the following day, the 2nd, we received a second report from the fire chief, prepared the equipment for the emergency fire assistance team, and secured a system to be able to deploy quickly, but for a while afterwards, we were in a state of waiting for instructions.

Recently, I learned about the extensive damage caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, and fires through media reports, and I felt the need to provide support without waiting for requests. On the 4th, we began collecting donations for disaster relief at City Hall and 11 other public facilities in the city, and we transported 1,600 bottles of bottled drinking water as emergency relief supplies to Hakui City in the Noto Peninsula.

On the 8th, we received a dispatch order for the Emergency Fire Assistance Team from the Tokyo Metropolitan General Affairs Bureau, and were designated by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that the activity area would be Wajima City, with the base camp located at the "Yanagida Botanical Park" in Noto Town. On the 9th, we dispatched one squad as a member of the Tokyo Battalion of the Emergency Fire Assistance Team from the Inagi City Fire Department. In the Noto Peninsula, the roads were in a state of destruction, and the first dispatch team took a total of 29 hours from the Inagi Fire Station to arrive on site.

In the first dispatch team, we loaded as many supplies as possible onto the transport vehicles and delivered 10 portable toilets, 10 tents, and 1,200 toilet replacement bags to Wajima City.

The mission of the dispatched team from the Inagi City Fire Department was rear support, which included setting up 49 tents, creating sandbags, establishing a decontamination area for the activity team (for washing dirty equipment, etc.), managing fuel and drinking water for the activity team, and conducting decontamination after the return of the activity team. However, initially, due to a shortage of personnel, they also engaged in search activities and welfare checks at the fire scene of the Wajima City morning market.

After that, on the 12th, we dispatched the second deployment team, and basically, we have been rotating every three nights and four days, with the most recent being the dispatch of the seventh deployment team on the 27th.

In order to support the severely affected Suzu City and Wajima City, Suzu City started accepting disaster support proxy donations for hometown tax from the 9th, and Wajima City from the 10th. In the disaster area, City Hall staff have also been affected, making it difficult to allocate personnel for issuing donation receipts and other administrative tasks. Therefore, Inagi City Hall will provide the necessary documentation for tax deductions on behalf of the donors free of charge.

Furthermore, the Tokyo Nursing Association requested the dispatch of disaster support nurses to Inagi City Hospital, and from the 24th to the 27th, care was provided for evacuees who are older adults requiring assistance at the evacuation center, "Ishikawa Comprehensive Sports Center."

In addition, there has been a request for support from the Tokyo Mayors' Association for administrative staff, and they have been dispatched since the 27th. This is to conduct assessments for total destruction in housing damage certification, and we are sending experienced personnel who have carried out similar tasks on-site during the Kumamoto earthquake.

I was surprised to learn that this time the dispatch location is not Wajima City, but a conference room at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Based on photos and summary data taken by local staff, remote assessments will be conducted using the disaster victim life reconstruction support system, and I was impressed by the nature of the work that reflects the evolution of IT.

The support status at the time of writing this document is as follows.

Inagi City is a small municipality, and while there are limits to the support we can provide, the gathering of many municipalities from across the country creates a significant force. Additionally, despite its small size, Inagi City takes pride in managing its own City Hospital and operating its own Inagi City Fire Department, contributing not only through general administrative staff but also through the dispatch of specialized personnel.

The city will continue to support the recovery efforts in the Noto Peninsula earthquake disaster area.

We kindly ask all citizens to cooperate to the best of their ability.