Last evacuee shelter closes in Ishinomaki
TOKYO —
The Miyagi prefectural government on Tuesday closed its last shelter in Ishinomaki for evacuees from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Tuesday marked seven months since the disaster.
Soon after the disaster, more than 50,000 residents of Ishinomaki were living in shelters. More than 3,800 residents died or went missing after the tsunami struck the city.
NHK reported that as of Tuesday, all but 64 had moved out of the shelters into temporary housing units or returned to their homes. The remaining 64 are now in public halls where they will be given three meals a day until they can find a place to stay, municipal officials told NHK.
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0
zichi
I suppose that might be some kind of sign that some progress is being made. Those returning to their homes are ones which suffered extensive damage on the first floors. Remember the recent story about a family killed in a gas fire explosion killing them all. They had been living on their second floor.
1
Hategobo
Why cant the remaining 64 be housed in temporary housing units? A little more research by the reporter giving the reason would have completed the report methinks.
1
zichi
Some people have refused to move into temporary housing. There was a problem obtaining enough land to build them. The building of temporary homes was slower than first thought. I think according to the National Disaster Law the max cost of a unit should be about ¥3 million, but these units ended up costing ¥5-¥6 million, and are required to be demolished after three years. The cost of a prefabricated, three bed house would be about ¥8 million and have have a life span of 25+ years? They were mostly build by Tokyo based companies using their own imported labor.
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Hategobo
@Zichi Thank you for that, very interesting.
3
BigMike Surf
I am from Hawaii and was volunteering in Ishonamaki for 11 weeks. I have been to shelters there it was very sad and depressing. It's good to hear its getting better for them. The people of TOHOKU have been through so much. Much Aloha from Hawaii. Bigmike Surf face book.
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