At least 14,000 people in Ishikawa Prefecture are living in evacuation centers due to the Noto Peninsula earthquake, and requests to move into “temporary housing” using private rental housing are flooding in. Its popularity is concentrated in Kanazawa city. The prefecture is also working to secure supplies in neighboring prefectures, but it is unclear whether they will be able to meet the needs of disaster victims. (Sho Ogawa, Naoki Aoyama, Aima Shiroishi)
deemed temporaryInstead of temporary housing, local governments rent private apartments and single-family houses and provide them to disaster victims who are unable to live in their own homes. This applies to people who live in areas covered by the Disaster Relief Act and whose houses have been completely destroyed, burned down, or washed away, or who have no choice but to demolish them because they cannot reuse them as a house even if they are partially destroyed. The rent will be borne by the national and prefectural governments. Residents are limited to earthquake-resistant housing. The period of stay is within 2 years.
◆ “When do we have to put in emergency temporary facilities?”
A disaster victim couple (right) looking for temporary housing in Kanazawa City.
At the end of January, a couple in their 60s signed a contract for a property in Kanazawa with Nouka Real Estate. Roof tiles fell off the roof of his home in Noto Town, and there were cracks in the walls and pillars, so he is in the process of getting a disaster victim certificate issued. She has taken refuge in Kobe City, where she has relatives, but says, “I don’t know when I will be able to move into emergency temporary housing.I was looking for a place to move in as soon as possible.” It has been decided that the tenant will move in in early February.
According to Mitsuhiko Nouka (54), president of the company, inquiries about temporary housing began to arrive a week after the earthquake. Most of the residents are elderly couples and families looking for properties that can accommodate two to four people, and properties that have easy access to the Noto region and allow pets to live together are popular. As of January 31st, he has introduced about 80 properties, and says, “There are quite a few left.”
◆Contact phone calls every day: “The line is getting flat”
The Prefectural Real Estate Transaction Association, which has an agreement with the prefecture, has registered more than 1,500 units in the prefecture as candidates for temporary construction. Until the end of January, we will be arranging approximately 700 homes, including those currently under viewing. A representative from the association said, “The phone keeps ringing day after day, to the point where the lines are broken.”
The prefecture considers temporary housing to be housing until people can move into emergency temporary housing. In the prefecture, 4,300 temporary housing units have been prepared, and as of the 2nd, occupancy has been decided for 1,194 units. The prefecture has added a total of 3,700 temporary housing units in Toyama, Fukui, and Niigata prefectures, for a total of 8,000 units. However, it is unknown whether there are any needs for disaster victims.
◆Some people give up in local governments where there is a delay in issuing disaster victim certificates.
Some of the disaster-affected local governments have been delayed in issuing disaster victim certificates, which are required for temporary housing. By receiving a certificate, you can receive support from the government for key money deposits and rent, but some people give up because they have to pay for the rent in advance before the certificate is issued.
An association official also said, “We need a scheme that allows people to move into temporary housing in a flexible and speedy manner.” Demand for properties for families starting a new life increases around March every year. There are also concerns that it will become difficult for people other than disaster victims to rent properties in the future.
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◆Even though I have nursing care, I was introduced to a mountainous area and said, “I really can’t go there.”
There have been a number of cases in which victims of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake were not able to live up to their wishes during the secondary evacuation, where they temporarily stayed in hotels and inns, and those who have nursing care or other circumstances that make it difficult for them to move far away are being faced with a harsh reality.
“I have become a refugee in a shelter.” A female hospital worker in her 40s who lives in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, is disappointed.
My mother, who is in her 80s, developed a high fever at an evacuation center in Wajima City and was rushed to a hospital in the city. She was then transferred to a hospital in Kanazawa city. Before she was discharged from the hospital, she tried to move her to a secondary evacuation center such as a hotel or inn, but the prefecture referred her to a mountainous area.
Attending to the mother is essential. She says, “If I go far away, I have to quit my job, so I can’t really go.” She was transferred to another hospital in Kanazawa City, but she is expected to be discharged from the hospital in about three weeks, and her future plans are unknown.
◆Prefectural official: “There are a limited number of facilities available.”
Fuji Hoshiba (81) lives in the Misaki Junior High School Gymnasium in Suzu City, while her husband, Ichiro (85), is in a hospital in Kanazawa City and is about to be discharged. Even after she is discharged from the hospital, she will need to return to the same hospital. She called the call center every day for about a week starting in late January, but could not find a shelter. She eventually decided to move into an apartment in Kanazawa city that her son had looked for starting in February.
According to the prefecture, 1,803 people have evacuated to hotels and inns in Kanazawa as of the 5th. A prefectural official said, “The secondary evacuation shelters in the prefecture are quite full.Facilities are also limited, so we are making adjustments.”
2024-02-06 21:00:00
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