EXCLUSIVE: Japan to Take Steps to Prevent Airport Inundation

November 23, 2018

Tokyo--The Japanese government has drawn up an outline of planned disaster reduction measures in response to big natural disasters this year, including one to prevent airport inundation, Jiji Press learned Thursday.

The draft outline shows the results of emergency inspections of crucial infrastructure conducted after the disasters, including landslides and earthquakes.

Also included are measures to be taken, including protection of emergency power sources at airports from flooding and work to make levees taller along rivers considered particularly risky.

These measures should be implemented mainly over the next three years, according to the draft, presented at a closed-door meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's research panel on measures to beef up the country's resilience from natural disasters.

The government and the ruling party are considering allocating a total of 3 trillion to 4 trillion yen in state funds to the disaster reduction measures.

Of the sum, more than one trillion yen will likely be secured under a planned second supplementary budget for fiscal 2018. Possible financial resources are surplus budget funds and fresh construction bonds.

According to the outline, local governments will be required to create hazard maps showing landslide risks, after torrential rains caused landslides and flooding in many places in western Japan in July.

The outline also includes measures to prevent large-scale blackouts, like the one that happened across Hokkaido after a powerful earthquake in early September.

The government conducted inspections of airports nationwide because a strong typhoon flooded Kansai International Airport in western prefecture of Osaka in September, damaging power equipment and causing a blackout. Measures against flooding will be taken as the inspections found that some airports have emergency power sources under the ground.

The emergency inspections covered 132 areas governed by 12 government agencies. The government will release the official version of inspection results and disaster reduction measures as early as the end of November. Jiji Press