Домой GRASP/Japan Few blind people evacuated during deadly rain in western Japan

Few blind people evacuated during deadly rain in western Japan

239
0
ПОДЕЛИТЬСЯ

Only a tiny fraction of blind people or those with visual impairments evacuated when deadly torrential rains hit western Japan last month, underscoring physical and psychological hurdles such people face at a time of a disaster, a Kyodo News survey found Tuesday. Six people were confirmed to have taken shelter…
Only a tiny fraction of blind people or those with visual impairments evacuated when deadly torrential rains hit western Japan last month, underscoring physical and psychological hurdles such people face at a time of a disaster, a Kyodo News survey found Tuesday.
Six people were confirmed to have taken shelter at evacuation stations in the three hardest-hit prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime, according to 10 organizations for the blind or visually impaired people in the areas. The figure represents a small portion of some 1,410 people who were registered with the organizations.
Floods and mudslides caused by heavy rains left at least 226 people dead, mostly in the three prefectures.
Evacuation instructions and advisories were issued over the disaster in 23 of the country’s 47 prefectures, covering some 8.63 million people, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Roughly 23,000 took shelter at evacuation centers at one point, the agency said.
While many of the organizations’ members said they stayed at home as they assumed dangers posed by the rains would be small, others said they found it difficult to evacuate on their own when there were floods and mudslides occurring around their places.
«I was thinking if I were to die, I would die here,» said Sachie Shimizu, 58, who remained at her home in Kure, Hiroshima.

Continue reading...