When floodwaters raged through the rural southwestern city of Hitoyoshi, Japan in July 2020, the disaster racked up damages of more than 44.5 billion yen ($F6.79m).
Shaken by the sheer scope of destruction, residents were left wondering how to improve warning systems.
The innovative efforts of the city’s Disaster Prevention Section led to the creation of an emergency alert lighting system on a central bridge.
The project on Mizunote Bridge cost over 27m yen ($F412,182) and now serves two purposes: as a tourist attraction for the city and using Mizunote Bridge – which is connected to water sensors – as a way of warning residents of an impending flooding calamity.
According to Teruki Torigoe, the Disaster Prevention Section manager, though the city had prepared to deal with such disasters, the severity of the floods three years ago was unpredictable.
More than 70 people lost their lives in the tragedy.
Now, Mr Torigoe says, the bridge has LED lights, which change colour based on the river’s water levels.
White lights indicate normal conditions, yellow signifies rising levels and a need to take precautions, and red means residents must evacuate.
Mr Torigoe said the city is aware that not all residents can actually see the lights, however, they can keep track of water levels from their homes through the internet or via television.
He said people have been encouraged to start the evacuation process even before the lights turn red. We call out for evacuation because there’s much more risk to evacuate after sundown, so we would encourage people to evacuate before the sun goes down,” he said.
“It is high risk, especially considering the elderly and children who may take more time to evacuate, so before the sun sets, we encourage people to evacuate. We try to alert people much earlier.”
The aim of the project is to provide an alternate means of communication from authorities to residents in the midst of disaster as sirens may often be drowned out by loud noise and torrential rain.
