Typhoon No 14, a powerful rainstorm, hit the Japanese archipelago on Tuesday. The typhoon brought record-breaking torrential rain over a wide area, including the Kyushu, Chugoku and Shikoku regions, with the damage continuing to spread.

Many people were killed or listed as missing as a result of the typhoon. Even after the typhoon passes, we cannot feel at ease as rivers may continue rising or the ground may have become unstable. We hope that damage from the typhoon will not expand further.

Typhoons hit Japan every year. In the past few years, however, they have wreaked major damage.

There have been many cases in which stormy winds and torrential rains have inflicted serious damage.

Bringing huge rain clouds, the latest typhoon moved slowly, sometime as slowly as a bicycle.

It also brought in a massive amount of moist air to an autumn rain front that was hanging above the archipelago east and west, aggravating the damage from the torrential rains.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area, weather-related damage occurred even before the typhoon pounded Japan.

Early this week, heavy rain, measuring more than 100 millimeters per hour, hit Tokyo, Saitama and neighbouring prefectures, causing many rivers to overflow and flooding many houses above floor level.

The Meteorological Agency is increasing its vigilance, pointing out that recently there has been an increase in the occurrence of torrential rains, often following typhoons.

Some experts have claimed that the increase in torrential rainfall is linked to global warming. Such rainfall has taken the form of unpredicted and isolated downpours, leaving forecasts almost useless.

There have even been cases in which people did not have enough time to take refuge.

There is no telling when torrential rains will hit. On the assumption that there is no knowing in advance, the central and local governments need to expedite their efforts to come up with countermeasures.

Besides, the Japanese archipelago is becoming ever more vulnerable each year to damage from heavy rains.

In urban areas, where streets are paved with asphalt, there is little room for rainwater to escape. Even a midsize or small river can overflow into the streets if a storm causes the water level to rise quickly.

Meanwhile, hilly lands are losing much of their water-retention ability, chiefly due to land development. In these areas, there are many houses that are vulnerable to landslides.

According to a survey taken by the Construction and Transport Ministry, there are as many as 210,000 such danger spots across the nation.

The central government's meteorological observation system should be improved so the government can issue detailed forecasts quickly.

Governments of cities, towns and villages also should define in advance their criteria for issuing evacuation calls and issue them promptly when necessary.

Another important task is the upgrading of hazard maps for local governments. A hazard map indicates areas likely to be inundated by overflowing rivers and shows facilities to which people can evacuate.

Yet only 30 per cent of local governments have upgraded their hazard maps to cover areas at risk if major rivers flood.

Local governments that have already upgraded their hazard maps also need to revise them to reflect changing conditions in their localities.

In Suginami Ward, Tokyo, which is said to be an advanced locality with regard to countermeasures for natural disasters, some of the areas inundated by overflowing rivers early this week were found to have been left out of areas vulnerable to flooding in the ward's hazard map.

Is the area surrounding our residence safe? In protecting our own lives, it is a good idea to check whether our neighbourhood is safe from flooding.

At the same time, we should confirm the location of places to which we can evacuate in our neighbourhood at the time of a natural disaster.

The typhoon season is just coming into full swing. We should be on the alert.

The Daily Yomiuri/ANN

(China Daily 09/10/2005 page4)