Torrential rainfall and flooding in Japan early last month — and the ensuing mudslides — claimed more than 200 lives. It was an exceptional disaster that exceeded what was previously thought possible. As Taiwan’s geographical environment is similar to Japan’s, there are several lessons from the disaster that Taiwan should learn, while also heeding the warnings.
First, Japan’s disaster warning system was too slow. The official warning was only issued about 40 minutes before the protective embankment burst within the Mabi area of Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture.
As events unfolded during the middle of the night, the situation was unclear, which led to authorities making water level assessments that were incorrect. Furthermore, they failed to ascertain when the high point of the rain and flooding would arrive, which meant that many residents were unable to escape to safety.
Second, as a precautionary measure, protection standards for flood drainage work at a district level are set by using an extreme weather event occurring once every 10 to 25 years as a probability measure.
However, when considering extreme rainfall, authorities should plan for disasters by using a torrential rain event occurring once every 50 years as the probability measure, as this appears to be the new reality for Japan.
From 2014 to 2016, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism carried out flood prevention work in nine areas across the country, including Fukuchiyama and Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture.
Meanwhile, cooperating residential areas erected tall flood prevention barriers at a cost of ¥50 billion (US$448.9 million).
Despite these efforts, the latest torrential rainstorms still resulted in flooding, which shows that physical engineering solutions to control flooding have reached the limit of their effectiveness.
Third, cities in Japan use pumping equipment to dredge inland water that is then discharged into rivers, but Kyoto University’s Disaster Prevention Research Institute has said that if this method rapidly increases the flow of water into rivers and a protective embankment bursts, the ensuing deluge would be greater than if pumping stations had not been installed and the water had been left to accumulate.
Fourth, emergency water wells were shown to be effective in this disaster. As the flood waters swept away critical infrastructure, residents within the disaster area were left without water and had to rely on nearby emergency water wells for washing, flushing toilets and personal hygiene needs.
Fifth, the central and local governments in Taiwan have drawn up flood maps that they make available to the public. Japan understandably places a heavy emphasis on earthquake disaster prevention, but this overemphasis led to flooding evacuation routes not having been designated for the public by the organizing authorities, further exacerbating the disaster.
Chen Szu-hsien is president of the Taiwan Association of Hydraulic Engineers.
Translated by Edward Jones
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