Mother and child safe on the top of a Sendai tsunami evacuation tower in today's evacuation exercise

By Denis McClean

SENDAI, 5 November, 2019 - Tsunami warning sirens sounded across the Sendai coastal plain this morning sending thousands of people to some 40 designated evacuation sites as Japan marked World Tsunami Awareness Day with many such drills.

In Sendai, a helicopter flew along the seashore over the designated Tsunami Inundation Area reinforcing the warning that a magnitude 9 earthquake had occurred off the coast.

Both the sea and city of Sendai were clearly visible from the top of the Minamo-Gamo evacuation tower where about 90 people gathered on the rooftop shortly after the sirens sounded, including older persons and many students from the local Middle School.

On March 11, 2011, Seiko Abe (77) evacuated to the local school to escape the tsunami waves triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and today she evacuated again, with her dog, and despite her limited mobility.

She said her legs hurt a little as she mounted the stairs of the evacuation tower which rises ten metres above the ground but she found the training useful and it made her feel safe. Ramps allow for  wheelchair access.

Also participating in the exercise were children from nearby Takasago Middle School where tsunami awareness and disaster preparedness are given top priority by the teaching staff.

Riku Asano, a third grade student who lives in the neighbourhood, said he has learned many useful skills for disaster situations including CPR, how to use a fire extinguisher and how to set up a portable toilet.

“I live nearby so if I had to evacuate I would do so with my family. I don’t remember the 2011 tsunami and so much time has passed that it is good to hear the stories from the older people who did experience it. Hearing the stories is important and motivates us to continue the training.”

Kazune Matsuoka who is also in the third grade also agrees that it is good to hear stories from older persons. “It is important to go somewhere high when the warning comes. These trainings lead to good practices and makes sure that everyone knows the route.”

Munehiro Takahashi, a fire department officer working with Sendai city’s crisis management section, said that preparedness planning at the time of the 2011 earthquake was based on the experience of a smaller earthquake and one metre tsunami experienced in 1978 and this proved to be inadequate.