Are you ready for anything?
I was not expecting the typhoon this week to take out Narita Airport and large parts of Chiba. A colleague was at the airport and said they hadn’t seen anything like it since the 3/11 earthquake.
Given the potential for natural and other disasters here in Japan, I thought this might be a good chance to think about how prepared we are for a disaster, and the kind of things we could be doing to get ready and deal with emergencies.
What disasters might happen in Japan?
Well, pretty much everyone experiences the ubiquitous earthquakes. My first one was a little one that woke me up my first night in Sendai, and the worst was the 3/11 monster (remarkeable for its length, six minutes or so, as well as the intensity).
What surprised me the most is how little damage the earthquake itself did. If it weren’t for the tsunami the death toll and damage would have been a fraction of what it was. It seems Japanese building codes and emergency planning actually do work pretty much as intended.
Volcanic eruptions are also possible, with Mt. Fuji apparently able to erupt at some point. It seems ash would be the most serious consequence.
Recently climate change aggravated weather seems to be on the rise, with flooding, landslides, and snowfall the biggest dangers.
And then there is the slight danger of another nuclear accident, a terrorist attack, or even military action from a rogue state or neighbour.
So what can we do to prepare?
I think the most valuable preparation is to be informed and have a plan for possible scenarios. If you have a family it is worth discussing this and making sure everyone knows what to do if something happens.
Bear in mind that phone networks and the internet are likely to go down, so communication can become difficult or impossible -if you haven’t agreed where to meet you might not be able to (particularly important to know if kids are going to stay at school and wait to be collected or make their own way home).
You can check whether your home, place of work, or children’s schools are at risk and also where local shelters are. Your city or town may have information available or run disaster preparedness drills.
You might also want to make sure you have supplies.
Useful things to stockpile
I’m not sure the various commercial disaster kits are particularly helpful, although it might be prudent to assemble your own bag of necessities.
One of the most useful things is cash. In a blackout you can’t use ATMs or credit cards, so cash is the only valid form of currency. I definitely recommend having an emergency cash fund hidden in your home and/or vehicle.
Up to date passports in case you need to evacuate abroad. Trying to get a new passport can take a long time/be very difficult if you are in a hurry and away from home (we know from experience).
If you have motor vehicles, petrol/charge will be vital if you need to evacuate. Since the earthquake we never let our cars get under half a tank without filling them up as quickly as possible.
Ways of dealing with heat and cold. We had a kerosene stove (non-electric) which saved us after the big earthquake. Making sure you have some way of keeping warm (maybe keep a blanket in the car?) is easy to overlook.
Also a gas tabletop stove means you can cook when the electricity and gas is off (remember, this situation could go on for days or weeks). Disaster preparedness is also a big attraction of having a solar panel/battery equipped home for me.
Food and water. We ended up raiding my wife’s English school for leftover snacks from the Christmas parties last time. Funnily enough, Country Ma’am cookies are not very satisfying when you are actually hungry.
First aid kit and medicine.
If you have the chance, fill the bathtub after an earthquake. You can use this water for washing and flushing the toilet.
Goodwill. Knowing your neighbours will go a long way in an emergency. Even more valuable if they are farmers and have access to large amounts of food 😉
Our current thinking
We live fairly near the sea in Sendai, and the tsunami reached our manshon block (in fact the road parallel to ours had some really shocking footage of cars being washed away) so that is a possible concern.
Another earthquake may do more damage to already damaged buildings.
Weather tends not to be too extreme in Sendai, and most typhoons either weaken considerably or move out to sea before they reach us.
In the event of a serious disaster we will again try to leave the area, allowing us to avoid unpleasantness and take some stress off the emergency response. If necessary we will go abroad, either to South-East Asia or to Europe.
We have water and food for a week or so at home, enough cash to meet anticipated needs, and our flat is insulated.
We also know where the local shelters are.
One thing we need to do is sit down with family and make plans for what to do and where to meet up if something happens.
How about you? Are you in a disaster-prone area? What preparations have you made?
Ben, It is extremely easy to be prepared at home. However, if you are not at home, close to home, or if your home is destroyed, well then, all those prepared situations become moot. I however am prepared at home. Here is what we have:
-Tons of canned food and we date them and change them monthly.
-Lots of bottled water…I mean like a lot.
-Medicines….Insulin is a problem though as it should be refrigerated for long term.
-Crackers up the wazoo, but really, watch the dates, they taste terrible here in Japan after they expire.
-Plastic bags for toilet issues.
-Even though I have a huge roof garden with Barbecues etc., we have gas containers and small stoves.
-Mini tent in case we have to live outside for a bit. Tons of blankets etc.
-Mini Portable toilet, although for me, the plastic bags and nearby areas are good to go.
-Cash? Small denominations and change…with a pen and pad to record what you may buy from a local store if they are open but no electric.
-Do not toss old shoes…your favorites might get wet.
-Bathing suits at least for most of the year much easier to take a shower that way.
-Fire boxes! Locked but not important unless it does not seal it. Two of them I do not lock.
-Multiple copies of yearly updates for important information and one copy sent to someone else you can trust.
I think I have it covered. Worst scenario is down on Shonan surfing or caught in a subway in Tokyo. I would prefer to drown doing what I love….surfing
Extra pairs of hundred yen glasses!!!!!! Put them everywhere!
And toilet paper….my rolls are worth ten grand each
After the Kobe quake, apparently one of the best modes of transportation were cross or mountain bikes. You obviously can’t carry as much as a car, but it’s easier to get around things on partially blocked roads.
I can see that. In a pinch you could evacuate on bikes I guess 🙂
Add hand held/magnet backed LED light bars— battery type for times without power—such as last week’s typhoon outage in Shonan. My biggest worry is where to store my passport and insurance papers day to day. So that I have them accessible in an emergency, yet in a safe place. After 3/11, we each kept a “ready bag” with a change of clothes and a few necessities plus papers, either in the house, or in the car or with us at work. But that practice quickly fell by the wayside once the aftershocks abated. What do others do? Does anyone else have a bag ready?