Darthmouth Flood Observatory

To get an impression of floods in Europe over the years, here is a .gif from the Darthmouth Flood Observatory:



For more information see the Darthmouth Flood Observatory website.

Informing the public in Japan

洪水避難地図や防災グッズ紹介 (2010年05月17日)

水防月間（5月1～31日）に合わせ、洪水避難地図の普及促進を図るパネル展が17日、山形市役所1階エントランスホールで始まった。洪水避難地図のほか、最近の水害写真や避難時のポイントを解説するパネルを展示し、災害への備えを促している。

Translated news item from Yamagata news online:

An introduction to flood shelter maps and disaster prevention goods (17 May 2010)

During the flood prevention month (May 1-31st), the promotional spreading of flood evacuation maps was started by unfolding panels in the Yamagata City Hall entrance.
Besides flood evacuation maps, display panels explaining the evacuation points and pictures of the most recent flood distasters urge preparing for disasters.

Click here for the article and video.



The goods shown at the end of the video have the sign "shopping possibilities for 100 yen" (0.87 euro/1.14 US Dollar) and include items such as a rain coat, a rope, a whistle, and an emergency light.

Heavy rains in Japan

July 14th, 2010
Typhoon season is approaching. Heavy rains in Japan caused floods, showing one of the main differences with the Netherlands: as 75% of Japan is covered by mountains, the rivers are very steep and erosion of the soil can sweep entire houses away. The Netherlands is lucky to only be sinking and not washing away as well.

Ice Bowling

The Daily Onigiri reports:
The Japanese bowling society strikes back at the summer heat! Asahi.com has a short report about a fun ice bowling event that was held yesterday as part of the local festival in front of Tokyo’s JR Shinbashi Station. During the event, they unveiled an oversized 2-meter tall ice bowling pin with a weight of 700 kg.