In Nagano Prefecture, many houses were flooded due to the inundation of the Chikuma River that occurred at dawn on the 13th of last month, and there were a series of 119 reports from people left behind in the house, and a number of posts requesting rescue on Twitter It was.
Nagano Prefecture had an official Twitter account used for dissemination of disaster prevention information, but initially it was not intended to be used as a tool to collect information on rescue requests.news world ahmed
However, since a lot of information about rescue requests was received, suddenly from the morning of the 13th of last month, "If you need help, tweet with information that # # Typhoon No. 19 Nagano Prefecture damage" Please call me ".
At that time, six staff members at the Nagano Prefectural Government Office were dedicated to collecting information on Twitter, and the information was input into a system for sharing disaster information at the Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters, such as by directly interacting with the people who posted them.
This information was transmitted to the firefighting and the Self-Defense Forces, etc., who were on-site rescue, and according to Nagano Prefecture, about 50 posts led to actual rescue.
Mr. Yuki Kubota of the Nagano Prefectural Crisis Management and Disaster Prevention Department who directed the information gathering on Twitter said, “At that time, a number of rescue requests were posted, and if we do not respond carefully one by one, it will lead to a delay in rescue. In the event of a major flood or earthquake, there are many issues regarding how to accurately collect rescue request information in the event of widespread damage, so we will discuss how to use Twitter in the future. I want to do it.news world ahmed
The actual exchange on Twitter is
It is a part of the details of the request for rescue that was posted on Twitter at that time and the detailed communication between Nagano Prefecture staff and the person who posted it.
As a post of rescue request, “An elderly couple and a cat cannot move from the second floor because of flooding on the first floor” or a family who worries about a father left behind on the roof of a flooded building "Thank you for your help as soon as possible."
There are cases where details such as the detailed address and number of people seeking rescue and the surrounding flooding situation are not known, and the staff of Nagano Prefecture interacted with the person who posted on Twitter for rescue I was listening to the necessary information.
Among these, for a post saying "Pregnant woman is waiting for rescue", "I am very sorry for the possibility of hoist rescue by helicopter, but would you like to ask what month of pregnancy? ”Was being exchanged.news world ahmed
According to the Nagano City Fire Department, the 119th report received on October 13 when the Chikuma River was flooded was more than 540, about eight times the usual, and 119th was difficult to connect.news world ahmed
In addition, when receiving the 119 report at the fire department, it was said that `` I do not know whether there are successive rescue requests and I can go to rescue immediately '', so it seems that people who post rescue requests on Twitter are one after another .
Yuki Kubota of the Nagano Prefectural Crisis Management and Disaster Prevention Department said, “For those who tweeted that they were uneasy without being rescued, they responded by saying“ I will definitely go to help ”with a strong word. I'm glad it was able to help many people. "
The victims who were actually saved
By making a request for rescue to Nagano Prefecture on Twitter, I was able to interview the victims who were actually helped.
Setsuko Nakamura (71), who lives near the area where the bank of the Chikuma River broke down, was rescued by leaving the first floor of his home on the second floor with his husband.
Setuko confirmed that water entered the entrance at around 5 am on the 13th of last month after the Chikuma River flooded.
At the time, Setsuko told the eldest daughter, Yukari Mochizuki (51), who lived in the neighboring town, that “it was difficult to have dinner with water coming in”.
In a short time, water flowed into the house, and the first floor was almost completely submerged and left with the husband on the second floor.news world ahmed
My daughter Yukari had been exchanging messages with her mother Setuko for a while on the smartphone, but the number of words was small, and I was anxious to see how the victim was rescued by the news, 9:00 am Around the time, I called my parents to rescue me on Twitter.
Twitter at the time posted “My parents don't have food and can't go down. Can you help me?”
As this tweet spread, it was understood even in Nagano Prefecture's disaster prevention account, and the prefecture exchanged detailed information such as addresses with Yukari-san. As a result, parents were rescued by boat.news world ahmed
Yukari Mochizuki, a daughter, said, “I didn't know who I should ask for help, and I was worried. I was worried about sending out personal information such as an address. It may be okay. "
The rescued mother, Setsuko Nakamura, said, “It was the first time that water had come so much and I was prepared to die.
Expert "Unprecedented effort"
Experts familiar with the use of SNS at the time of disaster evaluated Nagano Prefecture's efforts to interact with people who posted rescue requests, gathered information, and helped with rescues. It is a big issue for local governments to secure staff to collect information.news world ahmed
According to Associate Professor Shosuke Sato of Tohoku University International Research Institute for Disaster Science, Typhoon No. 19 was approaching Japan for three days from October 12th to 14th on Twitter. The total number of posts posted was over 2000.
In particular, on the morning of the 13th after the break of the Chikuma River embankment, there was a sharp increase in the number of postings for help.news world ahmed
About Nagano Prefecture's efforts Associate Professor Sato points out that "# Typhoon No.19 Nagano Prefecture damage" and hashtags were specified and the information he wanted to collect was limited.news world ahmed
Furthermore, after it was effective that multiple staff members were dedicated and gathered information, Associate Professor Sato said, “The fact that the necessary information was gathered by interacting with the people posted by the staff in two ways. It seems to have led to the rescue. Utilizing SNS during a disaster is an unprecedented effort. "
On the other hand, associate professor Sato says that there are still challenges in implementing similar efforts in local governments.
Associate professor Sato points out that "a certain number of staff is required to collect and exchange information on Twitter, and whether it is possible to secure personnel in the presence of many disaster responses is a major issue for local governments." .