Field Trip to Tohoku Area - Day 2

On the second day of the field trip to the Tohoku area we visited a different MLIT area with disaster management vehicles, and we traveled to the disaster hit areas Ishinomaki city and the Kitakami river mouth.

The vehicles we saw in action (as demonstration) included a pumping vehicle (35 million yen, runs on diesel), a disaster center vehicle and additional sleeping unit vehicle (each 20 million yen), a remote controlled excavator (100 million yen), and a lighting vehicle. The excavator could be disassembled into 15 pieces and transported by helicopter. It also provided video feed so workers do not have to be placed in danger while the work can still be performed.

The MLIT center was also hit by the tsunami, and the water can about 1 meter high inside the building. Next door a building functioned as an evacuation building, and about 100 people took shelter on the roof during the tsunami. The building is about 10 meter high, and the water came up to 1.8 meter. The salt water also caused certain plants at the MLIT building to die. The plan is to eventually remove and replace them. A new office is being constructed at a higher place.

In the afternoon we visited Kamaishi, where the hospital is in the process of being broken down. There is only one hill between the sea and the mountains, with a temple. From here we also saw the western island in the river, with the manga museum (a picture of the museum one month after the tsunami can be found here). The city is now working on getting inhabitants to agree on new levees, but in some areas there are still discussions as to the exact height and shape of the levees.

On the way there were houses marked with numbers. These codes vary per municipality and are also found on cars and boats. 

The Kitakami river mouth was nearly completely washed away. Much of the area has now become a marshland, but recovery is on the way. By constructing coffer dams, this area was treated in different sections. First the rubble was carefully searched for survivors and bodies, after which the rubble could be removed. Next the area was drained and the land surface was heightened. In this particular area, 40 people are still missing, so they are still being looked for in the remaining sections. At the elementary school, 70 of the 140 teachers and students had died. 

Further along the road north were the remains of a local disaster building. We stopped at the Minamisanriku temporary shopping hall where a Moai statue has been donated. Since the JR train tracks have been washed away along the coast, there is a bus service instead.