Evacuees suffer from isolation

March 11, 2014

3.11 survivors show deepened feelings of isolation: survey

  

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140311p2a00m0na023000c.html

A follow-up survey of evacuees from the Great East Japan Earthquake disasters found deepened feelings of isolation as people leave temporary housing communities and reconstruction of pre-disaster communities lags.

In response to the question "Do you have someone besides family nearby who you can easily confide in," 20 percent answered "not at all" and 14 percent answered "not very much," for a combined 34 percent. The result suggests that even now, over one-third of the disaster victims are lacking communication with neighbors and feeling increasingly isolated. A survey one year after the disaster had only 28 percent of respondents answering in this way, showing the numbers have worsened rather than improved.

In response to the question "Are neighbors you had relations with before the disaster still nearby," the most common answer was "not at all," at 33 percent. Combined with "not very much," the total reaches 57 percent. Response to the same question was 55 percent in the survey taken one year after the disaster.

Teruo Nakajima, 78, of Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, is vice-chairman of a neighborhood committee at a temporary housing community. He wrote in his survey response that events where neighbors can gather have been the most fun part of living in temporary housing, but "more people are leaving temporary housing, and less people are participating" in those events.

Katsuo Suzuki, 66, of Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, wrote, "I'm most worried about isolation of the elderly. At temporary housing communities with many elderly residents, it is hard just to do a patrol of them all. Is there no effective measure that can be taken?"

Among residents of Fukushima Prefecture, where evacuation from the effects of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster continues, many of those surveyed expressed the difficulty of maintaining community ties. Masaru Suzuki, 46, of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture, who serves as chairman of a local restoration committee, wrote, "We can't use the civic hall anymore, so it's difficult if we want to get 10 or more people together. Because of the Personal Information Protection Law, we don't know where residents have evacuated to, and it's very hard to get information out to all the residents."

More disaster survivors complained of physical and mental health problems. In response to a question on their health, 31 percent of respondents said they were in poor condition, a slight increase from the 29 percent that answered so in the survey one year after the disaster. Although 69 percent said they currently are not in poor health, that includes 21 percent of the total respondents who said they had at one time since the disaster been in poor condition. Many respondents complained of physical health problems from spending a long time living in evacuation, as well as anxiety from not being able to return to their pre-disaster lives.

Isamu Sato, 65, a fisherman in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, wrote, "I don't know if it's because of the bad condensation and mold in my temporary housing, but when I get a cold it lasts a long time. It also wears on me having to be careful about making noise in my home. One year was bearable, but three is tough."

Eisaku Ishii, 68, a liquefied petroleum gas seller in Hirono, Fukushima Prefecture, wrote, "I got diabetes while living in evacuation. I also hurt both knees and can't sit on tatami mats anymore."

The anxiety of not seeing clear progress toward communities' recovery from the disaster can also bring on health issues. Mitsuru Saito, 70, of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, wrote, "The city's plan to relocate communities to higher ground is slow coming together, and I've gotten (the disease) shingles."

Hiroshi Miura, 57, an inn manager in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, wrote, "Whenever I open the window in the morning, I am astonished by the difference of what I see compared to the pre-disaster landscape."

"I was in poor health for a while but have now recovered," wrote Mariko Aizawa, 31, who works in car sales in Ishinomaki. She added, "I lost my older brother and that was hard, but after learning how many people died, I've gradually become able to accept what happened."

This was the seventh Mainichi survey of disaster evacuees, with 123 respondents this time. It was also the sixth Mainichi survey of disaster evacuees who evacuated out of their prefecture, who accounted for 105 of the current survey's respondents. The number of responses differed per survey question.

 (Mainichi Japan)