Japan marks one month since deadly typhoon

The government widened the river that meanders through Kumamoto by 50m, raised the height of its banks, and replaced the concrete with stone. A few weeks later, it almost overflowed. Without that work, it would have been a disaster.

We need to prepare for more frequent extreme weather events.

When I go down to Shonan to surf, I am amazed at all the new houses being built in areas where they post on the telephone/electric poles the height above sea level. It seems that people were not meant to learn and to remember and to build higher up and further away.

Same results happen when people build on the bottom of steep mountains, or on river banks.

Flood debris is piled up Monday at a park in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Tuesday marked one month after Typhoon Hagibis swept through the area.

How much longer is that situation going to continue? I hear there are still victims of the March 11, 2011 tsunami waiting for housing.

This is tragic, but what does one expect when they live next to a river. In heavy rainfall the river bank can only hold so much water. Eventually water flow will find the path of least resistance as was the case. Some of the people themselves as hard as it is to say are to blame themselves. First cars are not boats why even attempt to think so. Next employers should not let employees leave in the middle of shift where a storm such as what hit leave employment grounds for the employees safety. Given that expected rainfall amounts of up to 800mm were provide it doesn't mean one has to be a scientist to figure out hmm that's a lot of water. Importantly though is what in the world has the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said his ministry, been doing all of these years besides getting paid high salaries and investments, see article quote: "Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said his ministry and the Japan Meteorological Agency will review how to release information on rivers as a regional land bureau failed to issue flood information and the ministry's website on water levels became temporarily inaccessible due to a surge in visitors at the time."

Too many items in that picture look to be either readily usable, repairable, or cleanable. What opulence that all that stuff just sits there and will likely be junked. In so many countries very little of that would go to waste.

Too much suffering. Everyone should receive government aid to rebuild their homes. Typhoons will be stronger in future.

Wow, great! And let's build houses for the homeless too! And for the new college graduates!

Who are you, Oprah?

Do you expect survivors of major disasters to cope on their own?

I expect people to do more than just ask for a handout. Where do we draw the line? People with no insurance? People who lost part of a house to the floods? People who got a broken window? People who's car was flooded? People who don't feel safe to go back to their home? Handouts for people who have no insurance, but none for those who do? Where's the incentive to buy insurance?

I'm all for helping people, but "let's just give everybody a home!" type mentality is awful.

It would be better to encourage them to move into EXISTING homes in safer areas. Yes, uproot from your hometown. Those places are dangerous and should not be inhabited anyway.

There are no real areas anywhere in Japan were there haven't been disasters.

There are areas that are MUCH less prone to it.

Don't allow insurance in high risk areas. Do not provide support to people who DO build there. Do not issue building permits to those areas.

It seems that people were not meant to learn and to remember and to build higher up and further away.

Most people don't have that luxury. We live where there are houses rather than build houses where we want to live.

Which insurers "refused to pay out" after the 1995 Hanshin Earthquake?

I lived in Amagasaki at the time and the place I rented was damaged. The only insurance problem I heard was that people in the west part of Kobe (Nagata-ku) were unable to claim on fire insurance after the huge fires there, because earthquake-caused fires are not covered by standard fire insurance. One reason for this is to stop people without earthquake insurance starting fires after an earthquake so they can claim on their fire insurance. Far more people have fire insurance than earthquake insurance.

Note that if your home, garage or car port collapses on your car, you will need earthquake insurance on the car insurance to get a payment. Standard car insurance (sharyou hoken) does not cover it and neither does earthquake insurance on the building.