Post by Linalin on Mar 23, 2005 19:32:17 GMT -5
If heavy rains cause the Yodogawa river in Osaka to flood, more than 1.1 million people may have to be evacuated, and more than 55 trillion yen in damage is expected, according to a recent study.
The study, conducted by a public committee comprising officials of the Osaka and Wakayama prefectural governments and the Osaka municipal government, also predicted that 220,000 buildings in the city, or about 40 percent, would be flooded.
The study was based on a 2002 report by the Construction and Transport Ministry.
The ministry's Kinki Regional Development Bureau postulated a scenario in which double the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the area falls. In the scenario, two consecutive days of 500-millimeter rainfalls would lead to breaches at 173 places on the banks of the Yodogawa river, flooding about 19,700 hectares of land in 13 cities and one town.
Based on these assumptions, the committee predicted that 8,332 hectares of land in Osaka, more than one-third of the city, would flood. Losses resulting directly from flooding, such as damage to houses, would reach 53.91 trillion yen. Indirect losses, such as those resulting from damages to critical utilities, would amount to 1.39 trillion yen.
According to the committee's study, if torrential rains of an amount seen only once every 200 years hit the Yamatogawa river basin in the southern part of the city, 198,000 buildings would be flooded, and damage would reach 24.9 trillion yen.
Given rainfall equal to the 600-millimeter total that fell in the Tokai region over two days in September 2002, the sewage systems along the river would overflow, causing floods even if the banks of the Yamatogawa were not breached. As a result, 532,000 buildings would be flooded, and damage would reach about 13.19 trillion yen, according to the committee.
The committee is also studying how to reduce damage from the predicted Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes.
Wow, that's really unfortunate.
The study, conducted by a public committee comprising officials of the Osaka and Wakayama prefectural governments and the Osaka municipal government, also predicted that 220,000 buildings in the city, or about 40 percent, would be flooded.
The study was based on a 2002 report by the Construction and Transport Ministry.
The ministry's Kinki Regional Development Bureau postulated a scenario in which double the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the area falls. In the scenario, two consecutive days of 500-millimeter rainfalls would lead to breaches at 173 places on the banks of the Yodogawa river, flooding about 19,700 hectares of land in 13 cities and one town.
Based on these assumptions, the committee predicted that 8,332 hectares of land in Osaka, more than one-third of the city, would flood. Losses resulting directly from flooding, such as damage to houses, would reach 53.91 trillion yen. Indirect losses, such as those resulting from damages to critical utilities, would amount to 1.39 trillion yen.
According to the committee's study, if torrential rains of an amount seen only once every 200 years hit the Yamatogawa river basin in the southern part of the city, 198,000 buildings would be flooded, and damage would reach 24.9 trillion yen.
Given rainfall equal to the 600-millimeter total that fell in the Tokai region over two days in September 2002, the sewage systems along the river would overflow, causing floods even if the banks of the Yamatogawa were not breached. As a result, 532,000 buildings would be flooded, and damage would reach about 13.19 trillion yen, according to the committee.
The committee is also studying how to reduce damage from the predicted Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes.
Wow, that's really unfortunate.
