No.85 Dispatch of Staff to the Disaster Area of the July 2018 Heavy Rain (Western Japan Flood Disaster)

There is only a little time left this year. I can only hope that it has been a good year for everyone, but looking back across the country, unfortunately, this year has also been one where natural disasters wreaked havoc.
On June 18, 2018, there was an earthquake in northern Osaka Prefecture, followed by heavy rain disasters in western Japan in early July 2018, flooding centered around Osaka due to Typhoon No. 21 on September 5, 2018, and an unprecedented power blackout during the Iburi Eastern Earthquake in Hokkaido on the 6th. On September 30, 2018, Typhoon No. 24 caused a series of fallen tree damages even within Inagi City.
Each time a disaster occurred, the city has convened a disaster information liaison meeting to gather information and has provided as much support as possible. After the earthquake in northern Osaka Prefecture, we sent blue sheets to Hirakata City, and during the July 2018 heavy rains (Western Japan heavy rain disaster), we sent sandbags and bottled water to Soja City in Okayama Prefecture as support supplies.
In response to large-scale natural disasters, measures have been taken by the nation each time we have experienced events such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake, and the Great East Japan Earthquake. While a system for wide-area support has been somewhat established to compile disaster situations at the prefectural level and request support from other prefectures through the national government, the reality is that these systems do not function immediately in the chaotic state right after a disaster.
The importance of direct support through connections between municipalities has long been recognized, and in Inagi City, we have concluded mutual support agreements with Ozora Town in Hokkaido, Nozawa Onsen Village in Nagano Prefecture, and Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture. We have also utilized the mutual support system in the National Association of Young Mayors (alumni association) to practice mutual support in the spirit of helping each other in times of need.

In this context, in June of this year, Mayor Tachiya of Soma City was appointed as the President of the National Mayors' Association, and he proposed strengthening disaster prevention measures under the new system. On August 30, 2018, the Special Committee on Disaster Prevention Measures was established. I was appointed as a committee member by Mayor Tachiya and was elected as Vice Chairperson under Chairperson Onishi of Kumamoto City at the first committee meeting.
This special committee has decided to establish a support system for the acute phase immediately after a disaster occurs, ensuring that even in the immediate aftermath of a disaster when support from the national and prefectural governments is not yet in place, assistance will be provided through collaboration within and between the various branches of the National Mayors' Association.
Furthermore, in response to a request from the National Mayors' Association for staff dispatch to support the disaster-affected areas from the heavy rain disaster in western Japan in July 2018, we responded that we could dispatch one person from the city, and it was decided to send someone to Seiyo City in Ehime Prefecture, where the matching of various conditions was established. The period is from December 1 of this year to the end of March next year, covering tasks such as applying for subsidies for disaster waste disposal projects and the demolition and removal of damaged houses, including on-site work related to demolition debris. I conveyed to the dispatched staff to carry out their duties without injury, and they were sent off recently.
Going forward, disaster prevention and mitigation measures will be at the core of advancing safe and secure community development, and we will continue to work diligently on this.
I pray that next year will be a peaceful and safe year for everyone.