Japan cities consider evacuating by car following new estimates

It is necessary to strengthen evacuation responses in order to deal with damage with improvements in hardware to deal with the effects of the largest earthquake and tsunami ever to hit Japan.

In the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, many people were caught in traffic jams while fleeing by car and were swept away by the tsunami, leading many municipalities to adopt the principle of evacuating on foot.

After the publication of the new estimate, Miyagi Prefecture reviewed its tsunami guidelines and asked residents of its cities and cities to consider evacuating by car. Iwate Prefecture has also specified in its disaster mitigation plan that evacuation methods should be made flexibly in accordance with local conditions. Yamamoto in Miyagi Prefecture, which has flat land along the coast, has 10 evacuation routes and conducted disaster drills using cars. In October, the town designated two emergency evacuation sites that can accept cars. It plans to specify escape routes for cars in its disaster prevention plan, which will be revised in the new fiscal year.

A city official said that they would be required to evacuate more quickly because of these new assumptions. We want to make sure that congestion-free evacuation is possible. Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture will conduct a demonstration in March before talking about the use of cars for evacuation in specific areas. Otsuchi in the same prefecture has decided to expand the scope of people eligible for vehicular evacuation to all city residents, and designate a riverside road as an upstream one-way route, in addition to providing car evacuation sites.

Some people who were previously evacuated by car have voiced concerns.

Mieko Sawayama, 66, of Otsuchi, fled the tsunami by car with her family of five in 2011 -- including her blind father-in- law. The family was swept away from the road amid traffic jams and abandoned cars. All survived, but other relatives who fled by car were killed. It is important to let people know that there are risks associated with evacuating by car, too, Sawayama said.

Professor Masaaki Minami, who specializes in urban planning, said it is hard for the government to make rules and restrict them. There is no other way but for residents to discuss possible situations in advance, create evacuation responses that are tailored to each community and for such thinking to become established. Iwate Prefecture will spend around 120 million for evacuation drills and study sessions in its quake and tsunami countermeasures project to be launched in the new fiscal year.

Gov. Takuya Tasso said that they 'll support various initiatives on the planning and ideas side and work with municipalities to keep the number of victims at zero.