Abstract
We developed a victim data base (“2004-2014”) for heavy rainfall disaster events in Japan from 2004 to 2014, and classified the 712 victims. The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of victims of the September 2015 heavy rainfall disaster in the Kanto and Tohoku districts (“Kanto Tohoku 2015”) and compare them with those for “2004-2014.” Characteristics of victims of “Kanto Tohoku 2015” were as follows: 1) 88% of the deaths were by flooding, 2) 88% of the deaths were outdoor, 3) 25% of victims were elderly, 65 years or older. “2)” is similar to the ratio of deaths by flooding in “2004-2014.” The ratio of “3)” is lower than that for “2004-2014.” The number of “Kanto Tohoku 2015” victims was 8: an unusually large number for recent heavy rainfall disasters in Japan. On the other hand, a dike break on the Kinu River in Joso City, Ibaraki prefecture, washed at least nine houses away. There were more than ten inhabitants in the houses, but all were saved. Worse weather probably leads to more deaths.
