Japan lacks cars for disaster victims — The Japan Times
In Japan, the nonprofit Japan Car Sharing Association cannot keep up with providing free vehicles to people who lost their transportation due to natural disasters. After heavy rains in Chiba Prefecture, which claimed 13 lives and damaged more than 10,000 vehicles with water, the organization received hundreds of applications to borrow cars.
As The Japan Times reports, around 3,100 damaged vehicles in Chiba remained on the streets in August after being abandoned or becoming stranded. The organization provides transportation free of charge to people who lost their means of travel as a result of natural disasters.
Only a portion of applications
Japan Car Sharing Association has operated since 2011, when it was established after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Based in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, the organization accepts donated vehicles intended for disposal and provides them free of charge for temporary use by disaster victims.
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At the end of August, the organization had around 600 vehicles. However, due to a series of natural disasters in the summer, including heavy rains in Chiba, powerful earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture in July, and heavy rains in Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui prefectures at the end of August, the number of requests rose sharply. The group was able to meet approximately 300 requests — around one-sixth of all applications received.
Assistance in several prefectures
In Chiba, three vehicle distribution points were opened jointly with local authorities starting on August 27. The organization received more than 760 applications there but provided vehicles to only 33 people. It said it was increasing the number of cars available for lending in the prefecture from around 20 to 90.
In the city of Yatsushiro in Kumamoto Prefecture, a temporary employee at a vehicle distribution point, 21-year-old Haruka Enokida, is helping address a staffing shortage. People use the vehicles, among other things, to remove debris. The organization opened another point on September 4 in the city of Nanao in Ishikawa Prefecture. Following record rainfall and flooding in Nagoya on September 8, it said it lacked the resources to provide assistance in the city and asked people to donate vehicles and join volunteering efforts.
