No.2 Disaster Relief and Disaster Prevention

(Inagi Newsletter December 15, 2011 issue)

In Inagi City, we have been working on support for disaster-stricken areas and disaster prevention measures since the Great East Japan Earthquake. The main contents are as follows.
On June 1, 2011, we concluded a "Mutual Support Agreement in Times of Disaster" with Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture. Currently, we are in a position to provide support to Soma City, but in the event that Inagi City is affected by a disaster, we can receive support from Soma City.
On July 25, 2011, we expanded the "Cooperation Agreement in Times of Disaster" with the Kudan Corporation. We had previously received permission to use the grounds of "Jinseien" next to Inagi Fourth Junior High School in emergencies, but with this expansion of the agreement, it has become possible to accommodate approximately 100 people as an emergency evacuation facility.
Since March 13, 2011, we have been dispatching staff as direct support to disaster-stricken areas. Initially, we conducted short-term dispatches for purposes such as relief and assistance at evacuation centers based on requests from the city alone or from the Tokyo Mayors' Association. As of the end of August 2011, we dispatched 78 actual personnel, totaling 189 people. After that, for reconstruction support, we have been dispatching staff for the medium to long term based on requests from the Tokyo Mayors' Association and the National Association of Young Mayors. Currently, we have one person dispatched to Fukushima City for seven months and one person to Rikuzentakata City in Iwate Prefecture for two months. Additionally, in November 2011, we dispatched staff from the Election Administration Commission Secretariat for nine days at the request of Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, to assist with the unified local elections that had been postponed in the disaster area. We will continue to strive to dispatch staff as much as possible based on various support requests.
As for disaster prevention measures within the city, we have increased funding for furniture anti-tipping device subsidy projects, wooden house seismic diagnosis subsidies, and individual housing renovations (reform and seismic retrofitting) in the supplementary budget of June 2011.
We will continue to work towards creating a safe and secure community and will continue our efforts in disaster prevention measures.