Toilet shortage projected after quake
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Toilet shortage projected after quake
The Yomiuri Shimbun
There will be a lack of usable toilets in all of Tokyo’s 23 wards if the metropolitan area is hit by a strong shallow-focus earthquake and many people are forced to walk home because the public transportation system is paralyzed, according to a government report.
A report released Monday by the government’s Central Disaster Prevention Council projected that toilets at evacuation centers will be used not only by local residents, but by people passing by the centers on their way home.
Thirteen wards are likely to have less than half of the toilets needed.
The council is calling on companies to stockpile portable toilets to prepare for such an emergency.
If toilets at the centers become unusable due to water stoppages or other reasons, all of the 23 wards will run short of toilets even if those at public restrooms and convenience stores are utilized and portable toilets stockpiled by the ward governments put into service.
A toilet shortage will be inevitable in 12 wards even if half of those at evacuation centers remain usable. In that case, about 8.17 million people will be unable to use toilets within two hours of the quake striking, according to the report.
Although Setagaya Ward would have enough usable toilets, the areas bordering National Highway Route 246, which runs through the ward, would suffer from a toilet shortage for 15 hours at least, if throngs of people walk home on the highway.
Meanwhile, 11 wards are predicted to face a toilet paper shortage within 24 hours of an earthquake.
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Voice mail services seen stretched
The council’s report also points out that a public emergency voice mail service that is supposed to be open to the public in the event of a disaster could be swamped by a deluge of calls.
According to the report, the “171″ service, on which people can leave voice messages and confirm their family members’ safety by dialing 171, can stock 8 million messages.
However, the processing capacity is limited to 600,000 messages per hour, including retrieval of messages.
As the daytime population in Tokyo and neighboring three prefectures is 34.38 million, the 171 service is likely to be overwhelmed.
The council recommends in the report that people come up with alternative ways to confirm their family members’ safety, such as using the web171 mobile phone service, on which users can leave voice messages and still and video images.
The council advises people to access the 171 service on the first day of every month, when people are allowed to practice using the service.
(Oct. 29, 2008)
