2.55 M. Tokyoites would need evacuation in event of big flood

March 27, 2019

Tokyo--A possible massive flood in Tokyo would make it necessary to evacuate 2.55 million residents in the Japanese capital to municipalities other than where they live, an estimate has shown.

The estimate, released by a joint team of the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments Tuesday, is based on a scenario of massive flooding from major rivers running in Tokyo, such as the Arakawa and Edogawa.

Tokyo has 2,100 designated evacuation centers unlikely to suffer flooding, whose total accommodation capacity is 1.56 million people.

But given that they will accommodate local residents, the capacity for evacuees from other municipalities would be limited to about a third of the 2.55 million, according to the estimate.

The team will estimate how many Tokyo residents may evacuate to nearby prefectures, such as Chiba and Saitama. It will work out measures to address the capacity shortage at Tokyo evacuation centers by the end of March 2020. Jiji Press