ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A delegation from Japan recently visited Tampa Bay, hoping to learn how to keep their residents safe from typhoons.
It turns out their visit was inspired by an ABC Action News I-Team investigation from last year that they read online.
In Florida, we call powerful, rotating storm systems with sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour hurricanes.
But more than halfway around the world, similar storms that form over warm Pacific waters are called typhoons.
Both can have deadly impacts.
A delegation of emergency planners, government officials and researchers from Japan are in the United States this week to attend the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“It was actually 2019 we went for the first time, and it was amazing to see all these stakeholders in one place,” said Ichiro Matsuo, a professor at the University of Tokyo.
Along the way, the visitors decided to stop off for a few days to learn about the Gulf Coast’s recent hurricanes.
“We understand that some 300 people passed away. And I imagine that a lot of this was due to storm surge disaster. And in today’s society, a lot of people don’t really understand what storm surge is,” Matsuo said.
Internet story sparks international visit
The group contacted emergency management expert Adam Montella, Executive Vice President of Summit ET, a disaster preparedness and response contractor.
“It’s a funny story. I was sitting at home one night, and I got an InMail from one of the representatives,” Montella said.
Prof. Matsuo saw Montella interviewed for an ABC Action News I-Team report about the challenges of evacuating vulnerable nursing home and assisted living facility residents ahead of hurricanes.
The report detailed how nearly 6,000 senior care residents in 77 facilities are located in Evacuation Zone “A”.
Each is required to have an emergency plan.
“The problem is there’s no standards for that plan, and there’s so many. There’s thousands and thousands of ALFs and nursing facilities,” Montella said.
The report was posted on our website and on YouTube days after Hurricane Helene.
“They were impressed with the conversation and the similarities to the problem they were trying to solve in Japan,” Montella said.
The delegation told us about the lives lost during the most recent major typhoon.
“In Japan five years ago, up to 100 people passed away across Japan,” Matsuo said.
The Japanese emergency planner told us many residents ignored evacuation warnings, and some senior facilities were not prepared for flooding that came after the typhoon.
“In Japan, people are mandated by law to draft plans for these facilities and also to drill these plans regularly. However, it seems to me that the plans themselves are not actionable in reality, and every time we unfortunately see people passing away,” Matsuo said.
Florida and Japan face similar challenges
“There's a lot of similarities between Florida and Japan. We’re surrounded by water. Large elderly population. Vulnerable population that has to be evacuated in times of emergencies,” Montella said.
Japan’s population is older than Florida’s.
The median age in Japan is 49.4, while in Florida it’s 42.6.
29.3 percent of Japan's population is 65 or older, compared to just 21.7 percent in Florida.
“These elderly residents have to be taken away early. At an early stage. Not waiting right until the last minute and then trying to bundle them away somewhere,” Matsuo said.
“It takes a lot more resources to move vulnerable populations. They're already frail and fragile. And the stress of a disaster is just compounding that,” Montella said.
“I think it’s important that lessons are learned each time if we’re going to save more lives in the future,” Matsuo said.
The Japanese team also said it’s important for the population to pay attention to trusted media sources when they say it’s time to leave.
They said they had already seen videos of our Chief Meteorologist, Denis Phillips, from Hurricanes Helene and Milton on YouTube.
“It’s very hard for them to know which message they should listen to about evacuating. That's where I think the role’s very important of the communicator. Someone who is trustworthy and someone who can really resonate with people and actually provide that call to action that they need,” Matsuo said.
“You know, I gave him probably the biggest hug I could ever recall giving him, and he held on tight"
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