Abstract
We developed a victim data base (“1999-2017”) for heavy rainfall disaster events in Japan from 1999 to 2017, and 1011 victims were classified. The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of victims caused by heavy rainfall disaster in western Japan in July, 2018 (“HRD2018”) in comparison with “1999-2017”. Through this heavy rainfall event, 231 people were killed or missing in western Japan. Characteristics of victims by “HDR2018” were as follows: 1) The number of victims is the largest since heavy rainfall disaster in July 1982. 2) 54% of the victims were death by sediment disaster, 35% of the victims were death by flood disaster. 3) 61% of victims died indoors. 4) 12% of the victims died after taking evacuation action. 5) 92% of the victims due to sediment disaster died near the sediment disaster hazard area. The ratios of 3) is higher than “1999-2017”. Especially in Okayama prefecture, many victims died indoors of inundated houses. It was suggested that deep inundation of 3 m or more could cause many victims. The ratio of 4) is consistent with “1999-2017”. It was suggested again that the method and timing of evacuation are important. The ratio of 5) is consistent with “1999-2017”. Understanding for hazard map information is important for the disaster prevention.
