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Reliable Information Transmission through “Double Hotlines”

Publication date January 16, 2019
Sector Natural Disasters and Coastal Areas
Region name Tohoku(Yamagata Prefecture)

Climate change impacts

Over the past several years, there have been many instances of localized, sudden downpours, followed by river overflows which have caused devastating floods. In the upper reaches of the Mogami River, in Yamagata Prefecture, better procedures for providing information in real time have been established that will allow for faster evacuation procedures.

Adaptation activity

In order to ensure that evacuation information is communicated from upriver of the Mogami, there is a "double hotline" (Figs. 1 and 2) that uses telephone and e-mail. In this system, when serious flood damage is expected, local authorities downriver are contacted by phone about the impending situation and flood forecasts by the Yamagata Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the “Office”) which manages the river. At the same time, the person in charge of the Office also sends a flood forecast e-mail to the mobile phones of municipal government heads and staff (Fig. 2).

Outputs / Expected benefits

If damage is expected to affect multiple municipalities at the same time, communication by telephone to each municipality separately may delay communication. However, e-mail hotlines allow multiple local authorities to be contacted at once, which helps prevent information being misconstrued by being passed on second-hand, and calls or handwritten messages being missed. In addition, the hotline can provide provisional figures based on observation until the Office can send more complete data (images, maps etc.). In this way, information can be provided quickly and reliably by duplicating the hotline with e-mail and telephone communication.

Sources and Related Information
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Yamagata Office of Rivers and National Highways: "Initiatives to Provide Information for Disaster Prevention and Disaster Mitigation for the Upper Mogami River"
http://www.thr.mlit.go.jp/Bumon/B00097/k00360/happyoukai/H29/list%202/2-11.pdf
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Yamagata Office of Rivers and National Highways: "Upper Mogami River Water Hazard Awareness Strategy Revision H29.1 Edition"
http://www.thr.mlit.go.jp/Bumon/J76101/homepage/river/mogamigawa_gensai/pdf/torikumi-h2901-1.pdf
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Webpage "Vision for Restructuring of Water Disaster Prevention Awareness Society"
http://www.mlit.go.jp/river/mizubousaivision/index.html