Abstract
In recent years, a number of disasters in Japan have affected the elderly. A disaster warning and evacuation system for vulnerable people is important. We studied a case in which elderly people took shelter from a sediment-related disaster in Okoku-en, in the city of Nanjyo (Sasiki town, Simajiri-gun), in Okinawa, on 17 June 2005, and studied the problems that emerged with respect to a warning and evacuation system in a home for the elderly. We found that it is hazardous trying to shelter elderly persons while it is raining, and that prolonged use of a shelter requires cooperation with other institutions in that the administrative body must play a central role, and prolonged use of a shelter is expensive. Therefore, we propose that disaster-planning and welfare organizations should design shelters for institutions housing the elderly for use during sediment-related disasters, thus reducing the expenses associated with other forms of necessary emergency shelter.
