A Disaster Drill With A Twist
September 1st is Disaster Preparedness Day.
On this day in Sapporo, a disaster drill took place at the Toyohira riverbed.
The training began with the scenario, “On September 1st, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 occurred at 9:30am, with major damage to the city center.”
Sixty-four organizations and 2,000 people attended this drill, which incorporated the chance of fire, car accidents, and destroyed buildings. Attendees evacuated from situations similar to real-life with obstacles standing in their way.
A new part of this year’s drill was that as large truck with a screen was used to project the disaster head quarters and other locations life to the drill site.
The disaster headquarters had a sense of tension that could be felt through the images on screen. Everything seen on the screen looked as if it were a real disaster, too.
The large car used to project the headquarters was from the Okura Yama ski jump.
It goes without mentioning that these disaster drills are important, but one must also keep in mind the drill must not be treated as if a drill. The use of the car monitor helped convey a feeling of tension and was a good demonstration of creativity during a normally dull disaster drill.
Creativity in a disaster drill!
Who would have thought…?
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Reporter: Eiichi Sato
Translator: David Neptune
