Flash flood in Kobe

When I lived in Japan I was always shocked how quickly the rivers went from trickles to torrents. So much different from most of the rivers in western Oregon which take at least a day of heavy rain to make a difference.

The victims were a 10-yo girl and 12-yo girl, and in a separate location, a mother and her 5-yo daughter. We are all in a bit of shock over the incident, as we and our children play in these riverbeds all summer long, and they are lined with sakura in April. Please include their families in your thoughts or prayers.

For those of you from outside of the area, this part of Kobe butts right up against and into the foothills, and the rivers are very steep and lined with concrete, making giant sluices. The storms that day were very sudden and torrential – perfect flash flood conditions.

As horrible as this tragedy is though, it illustrates what happens when the government decides to route and pave something like over 90% of the major rivers here in Japan. I see it as very much asking for flash floods to occur. All the worse because the local city governments know that people often play in these areas during the summer months yet post no warnings of potential dangers at all.