For Nanao Mayor Yoshitaka Chatani, the most effective means of communication regarding relief supplies following the Jan. 1 earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture was something unexpected: a group chat on the messaging app Line of 300 municipal leaders nationwide.
※It was useful. When I texted (the group) that we needed this and that right after the earthquake, supplies arrived soon after,§ Chatani said during an online news conference at the Japan National Press Club on Friday.
In times of natural disaster, there is always a mismatch between what the people in the affected areas need and the relief supplies that are delivered. But Chatani＊s Line group allowed him to directly communicate with other mayors who were eager to help.
The chat group already existed before the disaster, which killed at least 232 people in the prefecture and injured more than 1,000.
Chatani has a separate Line group with municipal leaders in the Noto area, with whom he exchanges information on a daily basis.
Having experienced the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake when he was working at a tax office in Osaka, the 58-year-old Nanao mayor was surprised at how different things were this time.
※During the Hanshin quake, we didn＊t have any information for about three days. I wasn＊t able to get in contact with my supervisor at the office for three days,§ he said.
Since then, social media has become a major means of communication in times of disaster. The central government has also shifted to proactively delivering relief supplies, rather than waiting for municipalities to make a request.
Nanao, located at the base of the Noto Peninsula, suffered major damage from the earthquake and its aftershocks.
The city has received about 7,700 applications, representing about a third of households, for disaster certificates, which will be the first step in receiving government subsidies. The number of evacuees living in shelters has declined from 2,000 to about 1,500.
The most troubling aspect of all is that almost three weeks later, 70% of the city is still facing a water outage due to leaking pipes, and it is expected that this will take two months to fix, he said.
※That means we can＊t use the restroom, the bathroom, and we can＊t do laundry,§ Chatani said.
Still, the damage is less severe compared with the cities of Wajima and Suzu further up the peninsula. Chatani is well aware of that, and hopes to make Nanao the base for relief operations by repairing the Wakura hot spring hotels, which were damaged by the quake, and using them for accommodation.
※If we can accept staffers for relief efforts, it＊ll shorten the time to come and go to the Okunoto area,§ he said.
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