2013.05.09
Disaster Prevention Plan of Aira City
I moved to live in Aira city in early April. After moving house, everyone had to go to the district office to notify the names of all family members who moved into such district. Each district has different social security since the money that the local administration receives partly comes from the government and partly comes from the local taxes. Therefore, the social security such as medical fees, children allowances and school fees vary in each district.
Since I got married and moved to live in Japan with my husband who was a government officer, he had to move to the new office every 3 or 5 years. Aira is the 5th city that we moved to. The thing that made me very surprised and startled when I first moved there was the fact that I was given “the disaster prevention plan of Aira city”. I used to think that earthquake, tsunami, volcano eruption or landslide after heavy rain and flooding are not related to me, but now it was not what I thought. Disaster could happen on any day at any time. So, at home, we talked about our meeting point in case that something bad happened because, if the disaster took place, everything would probably be chaotic and it would be hard to communicate with each other just like the situation after the tsunami on the Pacific coast of Tohoku-chiho that we saw on TV.
The map that I received indicated the ground height above the sea level, the location of the immigration center, the hazardous areas which might collapse, the tsunami and the ways to survive from disaster. The map divided the areas in great detail, which made my heart drop a little. On the other hand, I felt strangely calmer with living. This map made me think about the importance of family or normal life. Anything can happen at any time. If you have time, you might as well talk with your family members about the spot that you will meet in case that unexpected things happen in advance.
