2018 Japan Floods Essay Sample

Earth shakes, floors begin to fill with water, creating the illusion that one is in a deep pool within their own home, with furnishings breaking beneath the violent pressure of the water. Outside, bridges, including those that withstood nuclear bombings, and homes destroyed, over at the mountainside beside the homes, landslides withinside the process of occurring. It may also appear to be a terrible dream, nevertheless to the people residing in Western Japan in 2018, June 28, Thursday to be exact, this turned into their reality. To begin with, defining a flood would be an overflow of a huge sum of water beyond its typical limits, particularly over what is generally dry land. After the incident stated previously, the aftermath concluded with tragically claiming 237 lives, pronouncing 433 injured, and 6767 homes destroyed making this occasion one of the worst weather-associated disasters. This essay will discuss the ramifications of the 2018 Japan Floods, also recognized as "Heisei san-j-nenshichi-gatsugu, "in addition to procedural strategies and propositions to avert any other horrendous tragedy similar to this one.

Since floods are for the most part characterized as water past its typical limits, there had to be a reason as to how a colossal amount of water found its way onto land. In Japan’s case, it would be due to the remnants of a precedent typhoon called “Prapiroon” in conjunction with the seasonal “ Baiu” front that was moreover fueled by the warm air coming from The Pacific Ocean. This unprecedented event led to increased downpour lasting for a 10- day ceaseless precipitation. Thus, immense flooding and enormous amounts of landslides occurred. Not as were the Japanese overwhelmed by all of this, the high temperature and summer heat only worsened the situation. As the disastrous event proceeded, the quantity of water only increased by the hour by having as much as 10 cm per hour of rain. Additionally, atmospheric conditions were unsteady at the time and may result in gusts and tornadoes. This occurrence even brought attention to the government about global warming.

Although the people of Japan were forewarned of this event, the destruction couldn’t have been predicted, a good amount of people ignored this and went on with their lives not knowing it would be changed forever.

Furthermore, as stated that the Japanese were warned before the event happened, some would assume that their technologically-advanced infrastructure would protect them. Be it as it may, their infrastructure was built to handle situations like these, but not built specifically against floods. An estimation of two million people was forced to depart from their homes and seek shelter, most taking shelter in school halls and gymnasiums. One case had around 300 in a school gymnasium with no beds and having resorted to sleeping on blue mats, one family among the 300 had to send their daughter to live with their relatives as she was too stressed that she couldn’t even eat. Although some fortunate had the opportunity to flee to safety from the wrath of the oncoming floods, others weren't as fortunate and had to result to taking safety on their rooftops. as the disaster raged on, some 270,000 people across Japan had their resources cut and were forced to survive on little water and no electricity. Food supply was also abridged as products and services weren't able to reach due to the severity of the floods and roadblocks. As several houses were destroyed, several of their precious belongings had been stripped away from them and were all destroyed. Kazuhiko Ono, who was a proprietor of a bookstore, had a lot of his books destroyed or lost, even said he’s grieved that he had lost numerous books and he couldn’t find them anymore. During the disaster, work and normal life were ultimately held to a halt. Mitsubishi Motors Corp, a widely known automobile manufacturing company, had to stop production at one plant because of not being able to receive parts and Mazda Motor Corp also stopped for the protection of its employees are cases in point. This proved a good decision as in Kasaoka, Okayama Prefecture, six workers were crushed under a landslide, resulting in one confirmed dead. During the peak of the event, The Japan Meteorological Agency issued emergency warnings to cover eight prefectures in western and southwestern Japan: Kyoto, Hyogo, Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki - for the potential of increased water levels and landslides. These warnings are rarely issued unless the severity of the situation forces intrinsically, showing that matters were dire. More people fell victim to landslides such as a 30-year-old mother and her two children who died when a mudslide hit their home. More horrific cases emerged like one reporting two sisters, aged 9 and 6, has died and another confirmed the death of a poor three-year-old baby, both cases having resulted from landslides hitting their once-lively homes. As people thought things couldn’t exacerbate, a monsoon hit several areas that prevented the continuation of search-and-rescue efforts and further contributed to injuries and death within the areas affected. Amid all the horrible news, there was finally good news reporting that Leaf, a miniature horse who was a pet at an old’s people’s home, that was stranded on a rooftop without any food or water was finally rescued. Although Leaf was saved, her young colt fell victim to the floods, nevertheless, this heart-warming news brought joy to the Japanese during a devastating event. Though the situation was consumed by chaos, their government didn’t leave them to fend for themselves: their Prime Minister Shinzo Abe immediately canceled his diplomatic trip to concentrate on helping his countrymen. In addition to this, a liaison unit was established in his office to gather intel. Additionally, 73,000 personnel were mobilized for search-and-rescue efforts. Moreover, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga issued around 48,000 police to answer the people’s pleas for help. With government help and widespread cooperation, the incident was quickly taken care of. However, as a result, the tragic event resulted in approximately US$9.86 billion in damage, hundreds dead, thousands injured, and dozens missing.

Specifically for the 2018 Japan Floods, the main problem would be the placement of houses. In the forestallment of disasters, Japan had necessitated "hazard maps” showing the risk of flooding and landslides since 2005. Although this was implemented, numerous houses were beforehand constructed before this act, and thus, weren't taken into consideration of such events and weren’t prepared. After similar disastrous events had taken place, it's natural to the improvement of precautionary measures and infrastructure. Firstly, it would be a good decision to invest in creating a‘ sponge mega city’. In the situation of creating a sponge city, it would substantially seek to control and alleviate flooding, water pollution, and water scarcity in urban spaces. As said by a Dean at Peking University, “ a sponge city can hold, clean, and naturally, drain water- using an ecological approach.” In addition to this, establishing green roofs would be a smart idea as naturally the plants will absorb the water and replenishes it, along with other several benefits. Moreover, cleaning the sewer system and allowing it to do its job smoothly will be of great benefit to all. Regarding the matter of permeable materials, replacing impermeable surfaces with permeable ones will prove profitable as it allows the rainwater to seep into the soil, whilst letting the plant grow and, in a way, a free drainage system. In addition, information and knowledge is a crucial factor in preventing major damage, hence, bettering warning systems and monitoring water levels can provide sufficient information and lets the people prepare for an incoming disaster.

In a final analysis, one can say that the Japan 2018 floods were a tragic and horrific event. It left people losing their precious lives, belongings, and homes, and costing the government an enormous sum of money. Families separated, people, falling under the victim to the terrible landslides and drowned in the enormous pool, where their house once was. Following, this tragedy could be prevented by following safety protocols and saving countless lives. Several measures can be taken such as preventing the building of houses in danger-prone areas and the improvement of warning systems. Therefore, the outcome was more of a yin and yang situation as the positive side was their immediate and effective government action, learning of their mistakes, and general cooperation of all Japanese people. As there is a yang, there’s a yin, the ignorance of some people ultimately led to their unfortunate death, or injuries, and innocent civilians were heavily impacted. This will forever be ingrained into the hearts and minds of many reminding them of such a catastrophic event as the 2018 Japan Floods.