Heavy rains and drama in Japan

The sun came out brightly yesterday, Friday, September 11. Its brightness lightened the pain of remembering the victims of the 9/11 drama and in New York somehow. On a personal note, the September 11 sun reminded us gently during the morning mass that Papa Leoncio Piquero, who would have turned a year older today, September 12, will continue to happily celebrate each day with God up in heaven, with our Mama Mater (another birthday celebrant this Monday, September 14), and with Tio Jamin Lim and Papa Pending Jo (who joined the Lord on this day) and with our sister Len and her husband Ed Goyeneche and with our other family, relatives, and friends who have also joined the Lord.

The September 11 sun also meant the end of heavy rains brought by Typhoon 18 in Japan, especially in the most affected areas, the prefectures of Ibaraki and Tochigi Prefecture and more importantly, less or no more casualties or victims of this latest disaster.

The floods that hit many communities in many parts of Japan located northeast of Tokyo were totally unexpected. News of landslides and floods hitting areas in Okinawa, considered the gateway of typhoons to Japan, or in southern or western Japan have become very common. So when Typhoon 18 was announced, many expected these areas to again experience flooding and landslides.

There have been many days of rain for August as well as before Typhoon 18 entered Japan. The typhoon, however, brought 20 inches of rain which caused so much flooding and landslides. About 100,000 people had to be evacuated especially near rivers and mountains. While gratefully, the typhoon was not accompanied by deadly, strong winds, many areas in Ibaraki and Tochigi Prefectures had floods and landslides, causing many to leave their homes and work places for evacuation centers. Rescue helicopters were deployed to save those in rooftops or other precarious areas affected by the floods.

As of this writing, one has been confirmed dead from a landslide that hit their family home near the mountain, several injured, thousands awaiting safer conditions to return to their homes.

A number may have no more houses to return to as the heavy rains swept away many houses and buildings and drowned vehicles as well. The footage of houses being swept away by the rushing flood , of cars covered and drowned in the floods, of survivors awaiting rescue on their rooftops brought back memories of the 3/11 tsunami/earthquake drama in the Tohoku region of Japan. Frantic messages and calls were made to relatives in the affected areas of Ibaraki and Tochigi who gratefully, remained safe amidst this recent calamity. So many prayers were lifted to the Lord asking Him to continue to keep everyone safe and protected.

There are many Filipinos in the Ibaraki area, especially those in Joso, who experienced the scary prospect of being displaced from their homes by the floods and heavy rains. Many were visited by Japanese police who encouraged them to evacuate. A number of Filipinos decided to seek refuge with Sr. Carmen and her other religious sisters at the Joso Church. They were able to return home safely, with many also able to return to work Friday morning. There were FB posts of those rescued by the helicopter team or of those stranded in their work places. Gratefully again, despite the drama, all reported they were okay and safe.

Japan's disaster management is one of the best in the world. Their pre-disaster preparations (in terms of personnel, staff and budget, of evacuation areas fully equipped with facilities and items to respond to the various immediate needs of evacuees, of communication networks that send personalized alert messages via cellphones including the media with their regular reports and alerts) have long been in place. Their disaster management system immediately during and after disasters is just as highly organized and effective. The low number of casualties or dead and destruction is a result of this wonderful, much-appreciated effective disaster management system all throughout Japan.

There is still so much work to be done, however, to set up an effective disaster management system for foreigners by the foreigner themselves, in coordination with their embassies, and through their embassies, in partnership with the Japanese government and private disaster management groups.

Some countries have very effective systems in place through their embassies. Communication networks have been set up so that before, during, and after disasters, certain embassies are able to contact, advise, and monitor their nationals in Japan. Our embassy and our government still has so much work to do to improve the communication network for and with overseas Filipino nationals especially during disasters.

Last night, while maneuvering his way back to Tsukuba from his workplace in Bando in iBaraki Prefecture, a house guest of ours whose mother is Filipino and whose father is Japanese got down from his car when he noticed a group of Filipinos who were stranded in one road. He learned that from the morning of that day, they have tried to ask for assistance from the Japanese rescue team in the area, especially for the rescue of their grandmother who was stranded in the first floor of their house located in a flooded area near Kinugawa River. However, because they could not speak Nihongo and the rescue team there could not speak English, their request for assistance for their stranded grandmother was not yet responded to. Our house guest translated their request to the rescue team who immediately fielded rescuers for their grandmother.

Had there been an available hotline or social media site where Filipinos and other foreigners could have asked for language translation assistance or any other form of assistance, especially during emergencies and disasters, their period of anxiety, fear, and stress would have been shorter, the protection of disaster victims assured more promptly.

Research and literature data show that foreign migrants are among the most vulnerable groups during disasters. Last night's incident confirmed and supported the vulnerability of our Filipino migrants during disasters. We hope a better emergency and disaster management system for foreigners, one that is just as protective and responsive as the existing system for the country's nationals, can be installed in Japan and the rest of the world. We still have so much to do together, as a global community, to set up that effective and protective emergency and disaster management system for our people and for other foreign migrants in Japan and all throughout the world.

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