Victims of the Noto earthquake whose homes were partially destroyed are faced with a choice spend millions of yen on repairs or not？ The deadline to move out of their “deemed temporary housing” is approaching．
In early July, victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake who were taking shelter in “deemed temporary housing” in Ishikawa Prefecture received a document from the prefecture. “Confirmation of housing intentions following restoration of lifelines.” For residents whose homes are less than half-destroyed, the message states they will be able to move out by the end of the year. The time for choice is fast approaching. “Is there no other option but to leave…?” (Tajima Yutaka, Hirota Kazuya) ◆”Confirmation of Intentions” received from Ishikawa Prefecture A woman in her 80s who evacuated from Machino-cho, Wajima City, and is living in an apartment in Kanazawa City, glances down at the yellow “Confirmation of Intentions” document she received from the prefecture. A woman who ran a small shop was affected by the disaster at her home, which also served as her shop. Immediately after the disaster, he was unable to reach a shelter and spent the night in the car with his son, who had come home from a trip earlier. On January 4th, we made our way through rice paddy paths and, even holding our urinary urges, evacuated to Kanazawa after about seven hours. I moved into a temporary apartment in early February. The damage was assessed as partial damage to his store and home, and the building he used to sleep over Obon and New Year’s holidays was semi-destroyed. The warehouse was only partially destroyed and met the requirements for demolition at public expense. Their house leaks badly and is uninhabitable without repairs, but they haven’t decided whether to get it repaired or not. The woman’s daughter-in-law said, “It will cost several million yen to repair or destroy it. If repairs are not made, there will only be a short time left in the temporary housing. More support is needed…” he said, swallowing. ◆ In the event of a disruption in lifelines, residents are only allowed to live there until they are restored. Deemed temporary housing treats privately rented housing as temporary housing, and the local government covers the rent. In principle, the occupancy period is two years if your home is at least partially destroyed. If lifelines such as water are cut off in the area where you live, you will be covered until they are restored. The prefecture expects lifelines to be restored at the end of September, and has mailed confirmation of intent forms to approximately 1,500 households who applied to move due to “lifeline disruptions.” They were informed that if they wished to have repairs done, repairs to their homes would be completed by the end of December and that every effort would be made to allow them to move out once that was complete. Women are one of them. The document said that if repairs were not made, residents would have to vacate immediately after October 1st once lifelines are restored, and it also introduced the option of switching to self-funded housing. With some people finding it difficult to take the first step towards rebuilding their lives, they are being asked to return the documents by August 20th. Although she is gradually getting used to her new life, she still feels lonely because she “doesn’t know anyone” around her. What interests me is the hometown where I have spent over 60 years. “I wonder how many people will return there…” Even if we could return, there would be no transportation, and the anxiety for the future would continue. A prefecture official said of the deadline for residents to move out, “By clearly indicating the deadline, we wanted residents to think about their lives after they move out. We are not encouraging them to leave,” he explained. The intent confirmation form also states that if a construction company cannot be secured and there is no prospect of repairs being completed, “please contact the prefecture.” “I fully understand that repairs cannot be made immediately. Once we are informed of the situation, we would like to discuss with the government whether an extension is possible.” Some victims are staying in hotels and inns. According to the prefecture, the deadline for occupancy is the end of August. Under the Disaster Relief Act, the deadline has been extended by one month each year to coincide with the completion of temporary housing, but there is no prospect of it being extended beyond September. Tokyo Shimbun, August 17, 2024, 19:14.
>>1 The funds for public demolition and temporary housing come from taxes paid by the working generation. Taxes are not an endless supply (if they were endless, the amount of tax paid by the working generation would just keep increasing), so a line has to be drawn somewhere. It was your fault for not having insurance, so you should live with your son.
There’s no way that an option like spending millions of yen to repair a half-destroyed run-down house and have an 80-year-old woman move in there in the first place would have been an option.
>>9 > The store and home were partially damaged, and the building they used for sleeping during the Bon and New Year holidays was partially destroyed. The warehouse was partially destroyed and the house was partially damaged.
Why doesn’t the government just buy the disaster area and turn it into a nuclear waste disposal site? Reconstruction is impossible. It would be a more effective use of the national land. Foreigners wouldn’t illegally occupy it as a nuclear waste disposal site. It would also help defend the country.
I wonder if repairs can be done for just a few million in disaster areas where everything is so expensive and people are being looked down upon. It might be possible to build something like a shelter on the site of an old house.
Even with the landslide at Matsuyama Castle, there was zero government financial support. And there was also zero government support for the typhoon disaster in Chiba five years ago. Basically, there is no government support for damage caused by natural disasters. They give way too much preferential treatment to only victims of major earthquakes.
Honestly, I think it would be better if the national and local governments took the lead in deciding on a policy and forcing mass relocations, even if it meant doing it by force. Telling elderly people whose homes have been destroyed, “Please, everyone, please make your own decisions and act as you wish,” is not kindness at all.
>>25 Not everywhere. It’s not possible in the restricted areas around the Fukushima nuclear plant. But with the rebuilding, the risk will be reduced by making the area earthquake-proof or quake-resistant. I think it would be good to organize it as a model area for building a city that can withstand shaking.
Compared to government support for other small to medium-sized disasters, the Noto Peninsula earthquake has already received the most comprehensive support possible. Doesn’t the Tokyo Shimbun think this is unfair?
Please refrain from unnecessary travel and from traveling to affected areas individually. This is what the Ishikawa Prefectural Government has said, so there’s nothing we can do.
If they get public housing, they’ll be given priority. Any aristocrats who refuse to live in anything but a single-family home should be thrown out without question.
Why not build a public housing complex for singles or couples on the edge of Kanazawa where they can spend the rest of their lives? When they run out, they can rent it out. At that point, it’s an apartment complex that can be converted into boarding houses for tourism workers in Noto.
>>40 Temporary housing has already started to be built When it becomes available, it will be turned into public housing for ordinary people It’s probably cheap, so if things stay as they are, a lot of foreigners will move in Well, if there aren’t any jobs, foreigners won’t come, though.
There are temporary housing units, similar to hotels, made from containers. It should be loaned free of charge for life to any disaster victim who requests it. Because it’s a container, it’s extremely durable and cheap.
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