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Kumanichi reports that there is now a free bus service for volunteers who wish to clean houses and clear debris in the flood areas of Ashikita (and perhaps elsewhere - the article doesn't make that clear). The bus departs from the Sakuramachi Bus Terminal every Tuesday and Thursday from July 28th to September 15th (except August 13th) apparently at 7:00 AM, though again, that is not explicitly stated, so you might want to check. - William
ボランティア、被災地へ　熊本市がバス運行開始 ｜ 熊本日日新聞
熊本市は２２日、豪雨で大きな被害を受けた人吉市や球磨村にボランティアを派遣する無料の貸し切りバスの運...

Hi friends.
I've posted about Tsuetate before and got suggest to support for them.
Previous post
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3941213075952095&id=123734781033296
Tsuetate is beautiful Onsen village.
My friend supports there especially. I world like to share their work.
They gather items by smart supply
https://smart-supply.org/projects/kumamoto-tao-project/5f083588c08d420006041aa4?fbclid=IwAR0pvVS1Qp_QSzrnJtg0UsIIcC6Ntl8110lBLIzSAwlbK-viq8VqJdU7ZZc
Their project page
https://www.facebook.com/%E7%86%8A%E6%9C%AC%E6%B0%B4%E5%AE%B3%E6%94%AF%E6%8F%B4tao%E5%A1%BE%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AF%E3%83%88-101461254980429/
Donation for Oguni town
小国町つながる未来基金
https://www.town.kumamoto-oguni.lg.jp/q/aview/55/1368.html?fbclid=IwAR1RFVB8Nj4xXF8SpNn_flLargWPOgMUrzXKFPirNH_iOnXHpJhFrHn3nZI
By the way, I went to join volunteer to Soup run in Yatsushiro today. We are ラーメン党 Ramen tou. Yes, we do Ramen soup run for victims. If you eat their Ramen at their restaurant, your payment becomes donation for their works!!
If you like their spirit, you may eat it.
https://www.facebook.com/Npo%E6%B3%95%E4%BA%BA%E4%B9%9D%E5%B7%9E%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A1%E3%83%B3%E5%85%9A-1113325018694564/
You may support Kumamoto by your way.
Summer comes. Enjoy Kumamoto humid summer!!!ーAtsuko(｡•̀ᴗ-)و ̑̑✧ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=848296215526010&id=123723284383768

Kumanichi provides some demographic stats on disaster death numbers. The upper graph shows deaths from the recent floods, totaling 65. Of those, 55, or 85%, were considered elderly (defined as 65 and over). The lower graph shows that those from the quakes, totaling 50, were more spread out over age groups, with the elderly making up 68%. A theory is that it is much more difficult for the elderly to survive a flood than an earthquake. - William
死者の８５％が高齢者　熊本豪雨２週間、避難の難しさ浮き彫り ｜ 熊本日日新聞
熊本県南部を中心とした豪雨災害は、１８日で発生から２週間。県内の死者は１７日午後７時現在で６５人に上...

Kirk here. I got this a few days ago and should have posted it sooner. I hope I'm not too late for anyone who might be interested.

Hi, Joe Tomei here with another update from the JET Prefectural advisors Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott. My warmest thanks to them for allowing me to share this with the list
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Relief worker helping at evacuation sites tests positive
Yesterday evening, it was reported that a male public health official in his 30s dispatched from Takamatsu City (Kagawa Prefecture) in order to provide assistance with disaster response in Kuma Area, tested positive for COVID-19 upon his return to Kagawa. One of his main roles was to inspect evacuation sites and provide support and advice on preventing the spread of COVID-19 among evacuees, including being in charge of setting up partitions in order to help evacuees avoid the 3 Cs.
The official in question arrived in Kumamoto on 8 July using public transport. After arriving in Kumamoto, he used a rental car to travel to the affected areas. He visited a number of places in Kumamoto in the course of his work, including going to the Kumamoto Prefectural Government Office for an orientation, and reporting to the Hitoyoshi Health Centre for meetings. He also inspected various evacuation centres such as Hitoyoshi Daiichi JHS and the old Taragi SHS building as well as Kuma Village. In the evenings, he returned to a hotel in Kumamoto City.
Although he had no symptoms after returning to Kagawa, he was concerned that he had interacted with a large undetermined number of people, so he elected to take a PCR test as a precaution, which came back positive. It is not known when or where the official was exposed to the virus. Two close contacts, both Kagawa City officials, tested negative.
The amount of the virus detected in the official's PCR test was determined to be small, and a second test came back negative. Kumamoto Prefecture says that it will conduct PCR tests on any working, volunteering or evacuating who is concerned they may have been exposed to the virus. It is estimated that about 400 people may have had some contact. Approximately 200 tests have already been conducted, all of which have so far been negative.
Although volunteering is being restricted to people who reside in Kumamoto Prefecture, support from health officials, government staff and disaster response experts is considered to be essential and Kumamoto Prefecture plans to continue to accept support from outside the prefecture in this capacity.
The public health official in question was confirmed to be infected in Kagawa Prefecture so this case has not been added to the total number of cases in Kumamoto Prefecture, which remains at 49.
Read more:
- https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/kiji_34455.html?type=top
- https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200713/k10012513331000.html?utm_int=nsearch_contents_search-items_002
- https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200714/k10012514341000.html?utm_int=nsearch_contents_search-items_001
A note on the situation in Kanto...
Over the past several weeks, concentrated testing has revealed a number of clusters in the Kanto area, particularly among so-called "host club" employees in the nightlife districts, contributing to increasingly large numbers of confirmed cases in the national capital area.
Numbers of confirmed cases have continued to increase steadily. On 9 July for instance, the number of confirmed infections in Tokyo reached the highest number since the pandemic began, higher than the previous record of 206 cases on 17 April. (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20200709/k10012505871000.html)
Despite reporting that the majority of the cases are associated with nightlife and related businesses, the routes of infection remain unknown for a non-negligible proportion of confirmed cases. Cases have also emerged among people with no connection to the nightlife scene, raising the alarm of community spread. For instance, on 11 July, 17 people were infected by other family members, 9 at group meals, 7 at their workplaces, and 13 staff and children were found to be infected at kindergartens/nursery schools in Tokyo. https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20200711-OYT1T50222/
Osaka has also issued a "yellow" alert as cases have increased beyond a threshold set by the government there as well.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13543741
In comment, Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko said that the possibility of community transmission in Tokyo cannot be ruled out, but would like to continue to monitor the situation while listening to the opinions of experts. https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASN7F54R6N7FUTIL021.html
【7月13日】臨時記者会見（他県からの応援職員に係る新型コロナウイルス感染者の発生について） / 熊本県
【7月13日】臨時記者会見（他県からの応援職員に係る新型コロナウイルス感染者の発生について） 最終更新日：2020年7月14日  【7月13日】知事臨時記者会見　7月8日から12日までの期間、本県に応援派遣されていた香川県高松...

A unique problem: fishing boats in Yatsushiro have been blocked from leaving their harbors by the debris washed down from the floods. This will likely take some time to clear up. - William
八代海、大量の流木に悲鳴　漁業者「船が出せん」 ｜ 熊本日日新聞
熊本県南部を中心に襲った豪雨によって球磨川などの河川から流れ込んだ流木やごみが、八代海に広がっている...

I was born in 1965. Apparently, floodwater levels in Hitoyoshi that year reached a record 5.05 meters. Recent rain has brought flood levels to 7.25 meters. A woman in the article is quoted: "I don't know if I can live here anymore."
Rural areas in Japan are being hit by a triple whammy: loss of jobs, loss of youth, and an increase in natural disasters.These of course lead to increased depopulation. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of Japan's hinterland is abandoned to wildlife within my lifetime. - William
浸水の水位、５５年前以上か　人吉市民「もう住まれんかも…」 ｜ 熊本日日新聞
「水の量が比べものにならんかった」－。球磨川が氾濫した１９６５年の大水害を経験した熊本県人吉市の高齢...

An acronym which I didn't know caught my eye: DMAT. Turns out it means "Ｄisaster Ｍedical Ａssistance Ｔeam," which was organized following the Osaka earthquake of 2018 and consists of coordinated medical, social, and emergency workers sent to disaster areas. Kumanichi reports that they are being deployed to central Kyushu. - William
豪雨被災の医療機関、爪痕大きく　他県ＤＭＡＴ、現場支える ｜ 熊本日日新聞
熊本県南を襲った豪雨は医療機関にも大きな被害をもたらし、一部は休診や初診外来の休止を余儀なくされてい...

Remember, you can access live images of Shirakawa from several locations at this site. Looks like we have more coming in. - William
http://www.qsr.mlit.go.jp/kumamoto/bousai/kasen_live/kasen_live01.html

Hi friends.
We have lots flood suffered places in Kumamoto, sadly.
Especially, this video gave me shock.
Yes, this is 杖立温泉 Tsuetate Onsen.
I have gone and enjoyed the famous Onsen many times. Even if you haven't gone there, you might know the famous name and the view of small river with lots of KOINOBORI.
I share this video to get lots support to help, to live, to reconstruct for them.
Be careful today too!!
Be safe, at first! ーAtsuko🙏🙏🙏
https://www.facebook.com/1218858892/posts/10218081035476941/?sfnsn=mo&d=n&vh=i
Another one.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158729535065850&id=669535849&d=null&vh=i

Hi friends.
This is one of my favorite picture book's cartoon''もったいない ばあさん'' MOTTAINAI Grandma''
She tells the thinking about MOTTAINAI.
MOTTAINAI is very good action not to waste food, goods.
Yes, reduce, reuse, recycle way.
The page has four cartoons.
I hope not to waste emergency foods, goods, items for victims too.
I also hope you like and enjoy this story and way. ーAtsuko(｡•̀ᴗ-)و ̑̑✧
‘Mottainai Grandma’ spreads her environmental message in new cartoon series
The animated series “Mottainai Grandma” teaches youngsters the importance of respecting the environment around them.

Joe Tomei here. Several people have asked for information on how to help in relation to the floods that have hit Kyushu. Kaoru Dezaki passed on this page (in Japanese) on various possibilities. If anyone has more detailed information about these or other groups, please feel free to share it here.
私の故郷は鹿児島です。 父の実家は豪雨被害のあった鹿児島県の北に位置する長島町です。 幸い父の実家はいまのところ、何事もありませんでしたが、困っている方々のなにか一助になればと思い、現在私が見つけられた....

Spotted our first gecko of the season today. Fascinating animals, their feet are composed of a multitude of microscopic hairs that increase the Van der Waals forces - the distance-dependent attraction between atoms or molecules - between its feet and the surface, allowing them to climb about anywhere. They are your friend: they keep your house insect-free. The one I saw yesterday was munching on a cockroach. - William

Kumagawa (球磨川) is a rather treacherous river that originates in the Hitoyoshi basin and snakes through gorges before emptying into the Ariaki Sea in Yatsushiro. The mountainous region it traverses is relatively poor, and one way they sustain themselves is by taking tourists in traditional wooden boats along a section of the river. Sadly, the recent floods have destroyed many of these boats, depriving the boatmen and ancillary businesses of their livelihood. One hopes for a swift recovery. - William
豪雨が観光直撃「どうすれば」　人吉の老舗旅館、球磨川下り　 ｜ 熊本日日新聞
熊本県南を襲った豪雨は、人吉市の観光も直撃した。老舗旅館は壁が崩れ、骨組みがむき出しになり、「名物」...

Kirk here. Here's a video that explains why so much rain has been dumped on Kyushu lately. In Japanese, the phenomenon is called "線状降水帯" (senjo kosuitai), which is sometimes translated literally as "linear rainband." The problem with "linear rainband" is that it doesn't seem to be an expression that is actually used by meteorologists in the English speaking world. "Training," on the other hand, does seem to be a term that is actually used in English. The idea is that a train of storms goes over the same area, resulting in inordinate amounts of precipitation in that spot. It's related to another phenomenon, called "back building."
I'm interested in the terminology because I'm a language geek and have a special interest in how translations go wrong. NHK got this one right, in my view, but you can find news articles that merely translate the various parts of the Japanese to invent the new English term "linear rainband" -- not a good communication strategy, in my view. I'll refrain from adding links to such English articles because doing so seems to make Facebook replace the main image and link with that article.
Kyushu slammed by storm training | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
Kyushu has been devastated by unprecedented rainfall in recent days. NHK World meteorologist Sayaka Mori explains how a weather phenomenon known as a training is causing the downpours.

Kirk again. One aspect of the recent rain disasters in the Kyushu area is that "level 5" warnings on the JMA's (Japan Meteorological Agency's) relatively new scale (came out last year, I think) have been issued. Last year, I complained that the JMA neglected to publish an official description of the scale in English. I even called them to point out how providing an English explanation of the relatively clear scale would be helpful. Alas, no change. NHK has a pretty good page in English about the scale:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/587/
It's worth looking at but it shares a problem with the Japanese explanation found on the JMA site:
https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/kishou/know/bosai/alertlevel.html
The only sentence that "explains" what you should do at level 5 is the following:
命を守るための最善の行動をとってください。
Do your best to protect lives.
NHK translates this vaguely frightening (or frighteningly vague?) advice as follows:
"People should make every effort to save themselves."
One thing NHK does a better job of outlining on it's Japanese page about the scale is that by the time you get to level 5, it's probably too late to evacuate:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/saigai/basic-knowledge/basic-knowledge_20190529_07.html
So, my take on what you should do at level 5 is as follows:
"Probably too late to call for help or evacuate. So, I think you're on your own now, kid. If you're in a building with several floors, it might be a good idea to move up a floor or two. Umm, other than that, umm . . . you wouldn't happen to have a boat, would you?"
It's not very scientific or official sounding but perhaps a bit clearer than "make every effort to save yourself."
There are a lot of things I like about Japan but "clarity of expression" is not on my list of Japanese strengths.
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/2657253907681358

Just so you don't have to go outside and check: http://www.qsr.mlit.go.jp/kumamoto/bousai/kasen_live/kasen_live01.html

Kirk here. When I first saw the image associated with this news article, I thought I was looking at something from the 2016 earthquake. Sayeth Yogi Berra: "It's like déjà vu all over again." And speaking of déjà vu, I've been struck by how television reports on the ongoing crisis have been interspersed with reports on ceremonies commemorating the victims of the torrential rains that hit Kyushu in 2018:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/06/national/anniversary-2018-west-japan-floods/
https://www.registerguard.com/ZZ/news/20200707/death-toll-from-flooding-in-japan-rises-to-50-dozen-missing
Death toll from flooding in Japan rises to 50, dozen missing
TOKYO (AP) " Soldiers rescued residents on boats as floodwaters flowed down streets in southern Japanese towns hit by deadly rains that were

Hi friends.
If you live in north of Kumamoto and near the river addition near the beach, you also should pay attention about the time of high tide, high water.
It's 10:30pm tonight. Today is 大潮 Spring tide, the highest tide comes till 435cm.
If the river's water has increased so much already, I recommend you to escape before it's dark, before high tide.
Be careful, stay safe🙏
Help yourself and your neighbors!
ーAtsukoヽ(≧Д≦)ノ

Joe Tomei here with a weather update from the hard working JET prefectural advisors, Bilal Khan & Lily McDermott and I'm deeply grateful to them for allowing me to share this with the list.
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Hello Kumamoto,
The heavy rainfall in Kyushu remains serious, so we'd like to give some updates:
Emergency Warning in Fukuoka and Nagasaki; heavy rains also expected to hit Kumamoto
As of the time of this e-mail heavy rain is falling in Nagasaki and southern Fukuoka Prefectures, which are now under an Emergency Warning [JMA]. Evacuation orders have been made in areas such as Sasebo, Kurume and Hita [NHK]. The Hikosan river in Fukuoka has flooded in some areas [NHK].
Live footage of some areas can bee seen on NHK here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/realtime/rt0003180.html?utm_int=all_contents_realtime_001
The same heavy rainfall noted above is expected to move into northern Kumamoto (Nankan, Arao) [JMA Hi-res Nowcast]. Please continue to stay vigilant in staying up to date on the evacuation status of your area and on the risk of landslides and flooding of surrounding areas. Please be prepared to evacuate if necessary and take precautions such as filling your bathtub and setting aside your go-bag. Please confirm with your tantosha where you should go if required to evacuate.
Evacuation Warnings
Warnings to prepare for evacuation (避難準備 hinan junbi), reccommending evacuation (避難勧告 hinan kankoku) and ordering evacuation (避難指示 hinan shiji) have been issued in various municipalities.
As a reminder, please check any of the following links for updates on the evacuation status of your area: [Kumamoto Pref. Disaster Prevention Portal] [Yahoo! Japan] [NHK]
Evacuation orders are currently in place in Yatsushiro City, Hitoyoshi City, Minamata City, Tsunagi Town, Nishiki Town, Taragi Town, Yunomae Town, Mizukami Village, Saraga Village, Yamae Village, Kuma Village, Asagiri Town.
As of 5:26 pm today, Kumamoto City has also announced a recommendation for evacuation for residents near mountainsides (due to risk of landslides).
*Note: Home pages for 19 municipalities, including Yatsushiro and Hitoyoshi are offline [NHK]. Some municipalities are providing up-to-date information on their Twitter accounts, For example:
- Hitoyoshi City: https://twitter.com/hitoyoshishi
- Yatsushiro City: https://twitter.com/yatsushiro0801 (Special disaster homepage: https://saigai-yatsushiro.jp/)
As we mentioned in our earlier e-mail, the word "hinan" in Japanese has the nuance of "seeking safety/shelter" and does not necessarily mean you must go to an evacuation facility, especially if there is risk of flooding and landslides, due to the potential danger associated with re-locating. Sheltering at home (if it is safe to do so in your particular living situation) is also an option so as to avoid over-crowding at evacuation shelters in light of COVID-19.
For those of you who are unsure of where the closest evacuation center is, please refer to the following: [Yahoo! Japan (You can find a map of evacuation facilities for each municipality and filter by type of natural disaster] [Google map of evacuation centres and water provision sites maintained by a private support organisation]. If you need water you can get it from your closest evacuation centre.
Updates regarding the situation in the south of the prefecture:
41 confirmed dead, 1 more found without vital signs, 10 missing; search continues [NHK: 1 2]
National government moves to declare the situation an "Extremely Severe Natural Disaster" (激甚災害 gekijin saigai) which would put it in the same category as the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes and entail the same scale of financial assistance for recovery. Approximately 2200 members of the Self-Defence Forces and 100 national government workers have currently been dispached to affected areas. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
Post offices, banks and convenience stores closed in affected areas [NHK: 1 2 3]　
14 bridges along the Kuma River have been swept away [NHK]
Several communities along the Kuma river remain practically isolated, rescue activities ongoing [NHK]
Lastly, here (again) are some websites where you can get up-to-date information
Japan Meterological Agency (in English)
You can track advisories/warnings on this page of the website.
You can track landslide risk in real-time on this page of the website.
You can track flooding risk in real-time on this page of the website.
You can track precipitation in real-time on this page of the website.
Kumamoto Prefecture Disaster Prevention Portal (Japanese only, machine translation possible)
Kumamoto Prefecture Disaster Prevention Information Hompage (Japanese only)
Kumamoto Prefecture River Level and Weather Warning Information with radar (Japanese only but has very useful and detailed information)
Kumamoto Landslide Risk Map (Japanese only)
Information on Expressway Closures (Japanese only)
Finally, the Japan Meteorological Agency has announced that even if rains subside there is still risk of extreme disasters occurring, so please do not hesitate to seek shelter. ⇒[NHK: 気象庁「雨弱まっても重大災害のおそれ ためらわず避難を」]
大雨特別警報 九州各地の状況｜NHK NEWS WEB
【NHK】さまざまな分野のニュースをいち早く、正確にお伝えするＮＨＫニュース。映像をリアルタイムで配信しています。