ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND
DISASTER PREPAREDNESSLessons Learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon 23 of
2004) in Japan

Copyright © 2005 UNEP
ISBN: 92-807-2543-2
Job: DTI/0629/JA

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UNEP

First edition 2005
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in thispublication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on thepart of the United Nations Environment Programme concerning the legal
status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, orconcerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Moreover, the views
expressed do not necessarily represent the decision or the stated policy of
the United Nations Environment Programme, nor does citing of trade
names or commercial processes constitute endorsement.

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMMEii

FOREWORD
In order to assess global environmental conditions
and to identify potential environmental problems
and new ways to address the complex effects ofenvironmental change on sustainable development,
we must pay particular attention to the broadcauses and effects of disasters.
The increasing frequency and severity of manmade and natural disasters may well be changing
the global environment. All of these threats to theenvironment have been apparent in recent
disasters. Disasters affect the environment when
they have direct or indirect effects on ecology andhuman settlements that last far beyond the scope of immediatehumanitarian response. Changing ecological conditions can provoke
emergencies by placing concurrent stresses on the environment. Mitigating
the effects of disasters are primary components in global efforts to ensure
environmental security.
It is clear that further coordination and cooperation on environmental
matters depends on UNEP's ability to set an environmental agenda fordisaster management. In particular, UNEP's strategy on disasters can help
the United Nations to pay attention to the environmental conditions thatlead to disasters, and to natural resource management for disasterprevention and reduction.
There is a clear need to reinforce the importance of environmental
concerns in the entire disaster management cycle ofprevention,
preparedness, assessment, mitigation and response and to integrate
environmental concerns into planning for relief, rehabilitation,
reconstruction and development. This will also require the enhancement ofcapacities to undertake short and medium-term activities in disastermanagement based on long-term environmental considerations.
Japan has been in the forefront of sound practices in minimizing thedestructive impacts of disasters, with a comprehensive system ofpreparedness and response in place at the national, prefectural and local
levels, and with responsibilities mapped to respond to disaster situations.
This UNEP study on the recent Tokage Typhoon (No. 23 of 2004) is thefirst in a series of publications that will help demonstrate the preparedness
measures in place in Japan, and provide valuable lessons for mitigationand management in other countries facing similar disasters.

Klaus Toepfer
Executive Director, UNEP

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
UNEP would like to acknowledge the grateful support and assistanceprovided by the Government of Japan, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Hyogo Prefectural Government, and the
Toyo-oka City Government, in preparing this report.
Our Special thanks goes to the Mayor of Toyo–oka City, Mr. Muneharu
Nakagai, and his team of city officials - Mr. Naruhiko Sakamoto and Mr.
Satake Setsuo for providing access to information, and comments, on theimpact of the Tokage Typhoon on Toyo-oka city.
Thanks also go to Mr. Yoshio Togawa and Mr. Yuichiro Hirazawa, of the
Hyogo Prefectural Government's Disaster Management Division, and to Mr.
Shinji Matsuka, of the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan for theircomments and views of Tokage Typhoon.
Many of the photographs used in this report were provided by the Toyo-oka
city government. We highly appreciate their kind cooperation.
The preparation of this report was coordinated by Pasi Rinne. It was
prepared by Hari Srinivas, Rajib Shaw and Yuko Nakagawa, and wasreviewed by Per Bakken, Fritz Balkau, Monique Barbut, Robert Bisset,
Norberto Fernandez, Yoko Hagiwara, Claudia Heberlein, James Kamara,Rene Nijenhuis, Alberto Pacheco, Otto Simonett, Frank Turyatunga, andSvein Tveitdal.

United Nations Environment Programme extends its
deepest condolences and sympathy for the great sufferingthat recent natural disasters in 2004, have caused inJapan. UNEP joins the international community in callingfor disaster preparedness strategies to be integrated inregional and national development in all countries that are
affected by disasters and learn from the lessons of Japan in
preparing and coping with disasters.

iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The impacts of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only havehuman dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental
conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa,
disasters tend to have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest
management practices, or agriculture systems can exacerbate the negativeenvironmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading to landslides,
flooding, silting and ground/surface water contamination – as illustrated by
the 2004 hurricane and storm tragedies in Haiti, and in the Philippines.
We have only now come to understand these cyclical causes and impacts
and realize that taking care of our natural resources and managing themwisely not only assures that future generations will be able to live insustainable ways, but also reduces the risks that natural and man-madehazards pose to people living today. Emphasizing and reinforcing thecentrality of environmental concerns in disaster management has becomea critical priority, as advocated by UNEP, requiring the sound managementof natural resources as a tool to prevent disasters and lessen their impacts
on people, their homes and livelihoods. Thus, understanding of current
practices of disaster preparedness has to intrinsically incorporate
environmental management issues.
Meteorological and hydrological events, such as typhoons, are hazards thatcause heavy rain, high wind and sea surges. But the real damage also
happens due to the vulnerability of the people who lie in its path. Postdisaster assessment of hurricanes and typhoons have clearly illustrated
that, along with disaster preparedness, proper management of theenvironment – its air, land, water, forests, and wastes, go a long way in
reducing the risks and vulnerabilities associated with typhoons.
The recent spate of typhoons to hit Japan in 2004 – a record of ten
typhoons, out of a total of 29 made landfall – has put the country in the
spotlight for disaster preparedness. The Tokage typhoon (Typhoon No. 23
of 2004) hit the Japanese islands from 19 to 21 October 2004, leaving a
trail of damage and destruction. It was the worst typhoon for 2004. Whilethe impacts was heavy – 93 dead with more than 490 injured as of 29
November 2004 – extensive damage was avoided due to the various levelsof preparedness and mitigation measures that were in place at the national,
prefectural and local levels.
Compared to typhoons that usually strike Japan, Tokage had a number ofcharacteristics that increased its impact, including strong wind speed andgradually increasing energy, deflection from usual typhoon paths, and thefact that the hardest hit areas were affected during the night. The
combination of these factors worsened the impact of the typhoon on
people, infrastructure, leaving small cities particularly vulnerable.
As a part of the preparation of this report, UNEP carried out a field survey
in Toyo-oka city in Hyogo Prefecture, one of the worst affected cities. There
were a number of factors that resulted in extensive damage in Toyo-oka
city, including, extreme rainfall and rapid rise of river water within shortperiod; failure of the pump system; collapse of the dyke system; criticalv

timing of peak rainfall; low evacuation rate; management of relief materials
etc.
With respect to the local environment and ecology, Toyo-oka city also faced
a number of challenges, particularly related to landslides and its effect on
the topography, extremely high volume of waste debris, high percentage ofelectrical waste, silting of river and water systems, high volume of waste
plant debris and logs, effects on the local ecology and effects to the local
economy.
A number of lessons were learnt from the Tokage typhoon in Toyo-oka withrespect to infrastructure management (related to management of dykes,
forests, river basins etc.) policy, strategy, and planning (related to policy
integration, development of plans and programmes, knowledge
dissemination, and training), and community activities (related tocommunity awareness and action, and local preparedness).
The degree of preparedness that Japan has put in place for disasters ingeneral provide some important lessons for policy development and action
in other countries facing similar disasters. These include:• Need to raise awareness for integration of environment and disasterissues• Need to document and disseminate examples• Need to bridge gaps between knowledge and practice• Need to implement practical examples• Need to develop guidelines and tools on environment and disastermanagement• Need for continuous monitoring
This UNEP report is a collaborative effort of the UNEP Disaster
Management Branch in Nairobi, Kenya and the UNEP International
Environmental Technology Center in Osaka, Japan. It was developed incooperation with the UNEP-OCHA Joint Unit in Geneva, Switzerland.
It forms part of a series that will be developed on the interlinkages between
environmental management and disaster preparedness. Lessons learnt
and the environmental know-how that reduce the vulnerability and risks will
be covered in future reports, including measures relevant both at thenational and local levels.
The overall lesson emerging from this study is clear – a number of goodenvironmental management measures are in place in Japan, as in many
countries, but these have to be studied in greater detail, in light of theneeds of disaster management. It is imperative that environmental
knowledge is integrated into the prediction, prevention, risk reduction,assessment and response policies.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword .................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements ................................................................... iv
Executive Summary .................................................................... v
1. Introduction .............................................................................1
Disasters and environmental management
Japan and Disasters
Typhoons in Japan
Aims of the report

2. Characteristics of the Tokage Typhoon (No. 23 of 2004) ......4
3. Findings and Observations .....................................................5
Focus on Toyo-oka City
Experiences of the Hyogo Prefecture
Experiences of the Cabinet Office

4. Lessons Learned from the Tokage Typhoon........................11
Lessons in infrastructure management
Lessons in policy, strategy and planning
Lessons in community activities

5. Policy Implications for Disaster Preparedness ....................14
6. References and further information ......................................16
References
Japan-based websites
International websites

7. UNEP and Disaster Management ........................................17

vii

1

Introduction

The world is facing an increasing frequency and intensity of disasters –natural and man-made – that has had devastating impacts. As reported by
the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR),
the last ten years have seen 478,100 people killed, more than 2.5 billion
people affected and about US$ 690 billion in economic losses. Disasters
triggered by hydro-meteorological hazards amounted for 97 percent of thetotal people affected by disasters, and 60 percent of the total economic
losses1.
The impacts of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only havehuman dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental
conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa,
disasters have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest
management practices, agriculture systems etc. can exacerbate thenegative environmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading tolandslides, flooding, silting and ground/surface water contamination – asillustrated by the 2004 hurricane and storm tragedies in Haiti, and in thePhilippines. The high volume of wastes from disasters, from households
and debris, from forests and rivers, also constitute a major concern forproper disposal. A study conducted by Japan's Ministry of Environment also
showed that air pollution from urban and industrial sources has lead toincreased acid rain by hurricanes and typhoons2.
J Disasters and environmental management
We have only now come to realize that taking care of our natural resources
and managing them wisely not only assures that future generations will beable to live sustainably, but also reduces the risks that natural and manmade hazards pose to people living today. Emphasizing and reinforcing thecentrality of environmental concerns in disaster management has becomea critical priority, requiring the sound management of natural resources as atool to prevent disasters or lessen their impacts on people, their homes andlivelihoods.
Meteorological and hydrological events, such as typhoons, are hazards thatcause heavy rain, high wind and sea surges. But the real damage also
happens due to the vulnerability of the people who lie in its path. Postdisaster assessment of hurricanes and typhoons have clearly illustrated
that, along with disaster preparedness, proper management of theenvironment – its air, land, water, forests, and wastes, go a long way in
reducing the risks and vulnerabilities associated with typhoons.
Need for better environmental management also finds its precedence in therisks and hazards posed by industrial sites, as a result of earthquakes,
landslides, flooding etc.

1

UNISDR "Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives" 2004 version,
Geneva, 2004
2
Ministry of Environment presentation at the Meteorological Society of Japan, 7 October
2004, Fukuoka, Japan

Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in JapanJ Japan and disasters
Japan is located in the circum-Pacific mobile zone where seismic andvolcanic activities occur constantly. Although the country covers only 0.25
percent of the land area on the planet, the number of earthquakes anddistribution of active volcanoes is quite high. Due to geographical,
topographical and meteorological conditions, the country is also subject tofrequent and different types of disasters. These include, in order of intensity
and severity, earthquakes and resultant tsunamis, typhoons, torrential
rains, volcanic eruption, and heavy snowstorms.
As a nation, Japan is unusually well prepared for natural disasters. Since
the 1950s, successive governments have invested in stronger buildings,
inland and off-shore forecasting technology for earthquakes and storms,
response command structures, andregular training of its citizens at thenational, prefectural and local levels.
In
Japan,
theoverallpolicydevelopment and coordination ofdisasters lies with the Cabinet Office,with each ministry having specificresponsibilities. At the national level,
the Prime Minister heads the Central
Disaster Management Council. Alongwith designated administrative bodies
and public corporations (such as TV,
electricity,gas
andtelephonecompanies),theCouncilis
responsible for (1) formulation andexecution of disaster management
plan, comprehensive coordination; (2)formulation and promoting executionof the Basic Disaster Management
Plan; and (3) formulation andexecutionofthedisastermanagement operation plans.

Toyo-oka

Location of Toyo-oka CityAt the prefectural level, the Governor heads the Prefectural Disaster
Management Council, which is responsible for prefectural policy
development and coordination for disaster. This structure is further
intrapolated at the local level, with the respective mayors heading disastermanagement councils that formulate and implement local plans.
At the time of a disaster, it is affected municipalities’ primary responsibility
to handle the situation. However, if the disaster occurs in a wider area,
prefectural governments intervene to coordinate administrative matters
including making a request to nearby Self Defense Forces to dispatch
personnel for assistance. Access to fire brigades and police forces is
primarily with the local government, and a local government can request
other nearby cities to assist at the time of a disaster, including dispatch of
garbage trucks for hauling waste3.
3This however is not mandated in Disaster Management Plans, and is usually done on a
voluntary manner, depending on the need and severity of a disaster's impact.

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Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

J Typhoons in JapanThe typhoon season in Japan lasts from August until December. Most
typhoons die out in the sea, with about two to four making landfall.
Typically, a typhoon has wind speeds of more than 17 meters per second,and cause extensive damage when they pass over the land mass, in theform of heavy rain and precipitation, flooding, damage to houses andinfrastructure, and destruction of forests and agricultural lands.
The recent spate of typhoons to hit Japan in 2004 – a total record of ten
typhoons that made landfall – has put the country in the spotlight fordisaster preparedness. The Tokage typhoon (Typhoon No. 23 of 2004) hit
the Japanese islands from 19 to 21 October 2004, leaving a trail of damage
and destruction. It was the worst typhoon for 2004. While the impacts washeavy – 93 dead with more than 490 injured as of 29 November 2004 –extensive damage was avoided due to the various levels of preparedness
and mitigation measures that were in place at the national, prefectural andlocal levels.
J Aims of the report
The Tokage Typhoon4, and Japan's response to its impacts, provides an
excellent opportunity for the world community to draw lessons in disaster
preparedness. The package of measures related to governance, education
and awareness, information and data management, and related procedures
collectively helped in mitigating the negative impacts of the disaster.
This report aims to study the environmental concerns related to the Tokage
typhoon. It looks at the various environmental dimensions of the typhoon, atthe local, prefectural and national levels, and draw lessons for effective
implementation of disaster preparedness programmes. Its intended
audience are decision-makers and practitioners facing similar situations inother countries, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. It is hoped that thecontents of this report will also be used for policy development andimplementing projects in other countries in the region. This report is not,however, a comprehensive assessment of the typhoon's environmental
impacts.
The report was prepared using data collected from local government
offices, official government reports, interviews, with government officials,
and local residents, and field visits. It forms part of a series that will be
developed on the interlinkages between environmental management anddisaster preparedness. Lessons learnt and the environmental know-howthat reduced the vulnerability and risks will be covered in future reports,
including measures relevant both on the national and local levels.

4

The name 'Tokage' means a lizard in Japanese, and is the accepted international name forthe typhoon that hit Japan in October 2004. The typhoon is also known locally as 'Typhoon
no.23' of 2004. For consistency, the name' Tokage' is used throughout the report.

Page 3

Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in Japan

2

Characteristics of the Tokage Typhoon(No. 23 of 2004)

On Wednesday 20 October, 2004, the Tokage typhoon, Japan's severest
storm in many years, swept through most of the southern half of Japan.
People were overcome by the massive waves and flash floods triggered by
the typhoon's heavy rains and strong winds,
which left at least 93 people dead, and some 490
injured, 97 of them severely.
The number of casualties from Tokage was thehighest from a typhoon since October 1979 when
115 people were killed or presumed dead. Manyof the deaths occurred when homes were buriedin landslides caused by two days of torrential
rain. Television images showed rescue workers
digging through the remains of wooden homes forsurvivors.

Best Track of the Tokage Typhoon

More than two-thirds of the dead were aged 60 years or older and many ofthem could not flee as Tokage rampaged through packing winds of up to144km/h. At its height, Tokage had an 800km radius of strong winds,enough to set off more than 700 landslides and flip over trains parked
before the storm. The typhoon first started battering the southernmost
islands of Okinawa on 18 October, moving steadily north until it cameashore on Shikoku on the afternoon of 20 October. It then moved through
Honshu overnight and went offshore near Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, ataround 6 a.m. 21 October, and was downgraded to an extra-tropicaldepression.
Compared to typhoons that usually strike Japan, Tokage had a number ofcharacteristics that increased its impact, including strong wind speed andgradually increasing energy, deflection from usual typhoon paths, and thefact that the hardest hit areas were affected during the night. The
combination of these factors enhanced the impact of the typhoon on
people, infrastructure, leaving small cities particularly vulnerable.
The number of typhoon related casualties is the highest in over a quarter ofa century, and it further destroyed homes, damaged and flooded many
residences. Storms and floods killed over 100 people in Japan in 2004,
and the damage from this typhoon season already exceeds the bill forweather-related damage in 2003, which amounted to 940 billion yen (about
US$ 9 billion).

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Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

3

Findings and Observations

J Tokage Typhoon: Focus on Toyo-oka City
Toyo-oka is a small city, with a population of 48,000. It has a river runningfrom south to north, a wide-open rice field in the middle, surrounded by
mountains on all sides, and a narrow passage to the sea to the north. It
was traditionally a farming community, withrecent development making it a commercially
important city in the region. It is famous as anesting place for migrating White Oriental
Storks – one of the last remaining sites inJapan. As a result, tourism is also an
important element of the city's economy.
Hyogo prefecture of west-central Japan was
the hardest hit prefecture, and Toyo-oka city,
located in the northern part of the prefecture,experienced
thehighestdamage–residences,infrastructure,
forests
andagricultural lands were severely damaged.

City officials explain Toyo-oka's topography

The field survey of Toyo-oka city was conducted on 16 December 2004,
with visits coordinated by the Toyo-oka City Government. It consisted offield inspection of different sites affected by the disaster, including atemporary disaster waste storage area; discussion with the disaster andenvironment practitioners in the city government; interview with local
residents, and discussion with the City Mayor.

〔ｍ 〕

T yphoon T okage (2004)

9.00
Isewan Typhoon (1959)

Design value 8．16ｍ

8.00
Typhoon 19 (1991)

7.00
Danger Value 6．50
6.00
5.00
W arning Value 4．
50

4.00
3.00

Normal Value 2．50
2.00
1.00
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Rise of water level in Maruyama River (Height against time in hour)Page 5

Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in JapanJ Toyo-oka City: Observations related to disaster management
There were a number of factors that resulted in extensive damage in Toyooka city due to the typhoon.
• Extreme rainfall and rapid rise of river water within a short period: The
main reason of the damage was extreme rainfall within a short period of
7-8 hours. The rainfall varied from 16 to 40 mm/hour, and had a total
downpour of 350-400 mm. This caused a sharp increase in water levelsof the Maruyama river within a very short period. The highest waterlevel observed in the river was 7.3 meters during the devastating Isewan
typhoon of 1959. However, water levels rose to 8.25 meters during thecurrent typhoon, which was even higher than the designed value of theembankment. The rise in the water level was also very sharp, with anincrease of four meters within a period offour hours.
• Failure of the pump system: The
Maruyama river and its branches are
separated by a water-gate for effective
flood management. During high rainfall,
the gate is closed, and the water ispumped out of the branch to the mainriver, and thereby maintaining a state ofequilibrium. Since the rainfall rate washigh, the pumping system did not work
properly, and consequently, the waterlevel increased dramatically in the mainriver.
Maruyama River's sluice pump system• Collapse of the dyke system: Most
sections of the river's dykes were made ofsoil, with some parts were made ofconcrete. Continuous rain had softened
the soil, and caused the failure of its
foundation. As a result, part of the dyke
system in the western bank of the rivercollapsed, and water rushed into theresidential areas, causing significant
damagestothehousesandinfrastructure.
• Critical timing of peak rainfall:The
rainfall started in the afternoon, andreached its peak in the evening, causing
Dyke break: Maruyama river flooded beyond its bankthe dyke to collapse in the night, whichhampered immediate search and rescue
operations. While people were waiting
on rooftops during the night, the Civil Defense and Fire-Rescue Teams
could not reach the affected sites before morning.
• Low evacuation rate: While the City Mayor gave an evacuation order to42,000 people (more than 90 percent of the city population), only 3,800
people actually evacuated. This was due to the community's perceptionof the typhoon's impact on their lives, and the need to protect theirhomes from rising floodwaters.
• Management of relief materials: After any disaster, one of key issues isto effectively distribute relief materials to the needy people. Significant
amount of relief materials arrived from different parts of Japan, and wasPage 6

Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

effectively managed with the help of volunteers and local residents, incooperation with the local government.
• Effective volunteer coordination and management: In the aftermath of
the typhoon, volunteers from different parts of Japan arrived in Toyo-oka
city, and helped in the immediate response, especially for cleaning up
typhoon waste. The local government notedthat a typhoon's aftermath is different fromthat of an earthquake, since the first priority
after a typhoon is to clean the residences, andremove destroyed and damaged householdmaterials.
For this, management ofvolunteers (for example, ensuring thatvolunteers were distributed to all needy areasof the city) was critical, and this was
effectively
carriedoutbynon-profit
organizations (NGOs)5.
• Effective psychological/mental care: After any
disaster, psychological/mental care of theaffected people is of utmost importance. In
the aftermath of a typhoon, a number ofEffective volunteer management in Toyo-oka City
programmes were carried out by volunteer
groups, local governments and otherorganizations, to cheer up residents, children
and aged people.
These included,
entertainment programs, shows, and sending
flowers, toys, and pets to the children.
J Toyo-oka City: Observations related to theenvironment

Landslide sites covered by plastic sheeting

With respect to the local environment andecology, Toyo-oka city also faced a number ofchallenges.

• Landslide and its effect on the topography:
The typhoon caused a number of landslides
and local mudflows in several locations in theaffected area, thereby significantly affecting themountain and river environments. Landslides
were caused by lack of appropriate vegetation
cover that was accentuated by strong
downpour and steep slope of the mountains.
In several places, the typhoon had uprooted
the trees on the mountain slopes, which
accelerated mudflows.
• Extremely high volume of waste debris:
Immediately after the event, a major issue was
A temporary waste-handling site set up after Tokage
dealing with the very high amount of waste
debris, caused by the typhoon. The typhoon produced 45,000 tons ofwaste, which was equal to the total waste normally produced in 1.5
5

Most of these NGOs were located throughout the Hyogo prefecture who dispatched staff
members to Toyo-oka. They used their experiences during the Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake of 1995 to effectively respond to the needs of the city. The city government
itself was not involved in the management of volunteers, and coordinated the need forvolunteers in the city through these NGOs.

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Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in Japan

•

•

•

•

•

years by the city. The waste was composed of domestic materials(including electrical appliances), woods and logs, significant amount ofweeds, and silt. The city found itself unable to handle the waste, andhad to seek help and cooperation from surrounding cities andprefectures. This waste also caused several other problems in terms ofclearing the waste in a timely manner to avoid health hazards, treatment
and incineration of wastes (location, man-power, cost), and recycling ofwaste materials, where possible.
High percentage of electrical waste: A
related problem of wastes and debris was
the handling of a high percentage ofhousehold electrical appliances, whichwere discarded due to water logging andflooding of houses. Few residents realizedthat most of these appliances could berecycled and used again, highlighting theneed for sharing appropriate information
and awareness on techniques to carry out
such restoration.
Silting of river and water systems: The
Extensive forest debris along river banks
typhoon and rains caused erosion frommountains and flooding of rivers, resulting in a significant amount of silt.
The collapse of the river's dykes and overflow caused this silt to spreadto residential and agricultural areas. This had a significant impact on thenatural environment, in terms of affecting the land's fertility,
contaminating surface and ground water aquifers.
City officials
anticipate a long-term impact on the environment in this regard,
especially on the water system. Silt that entered houses as a result offlooding also caused significant damage, which had to be cleaned by theresidents.
High volume of waste plant debris and logs: Significant part of the waste
was composed of plant debris and logs, which was transported by rivers
and flood waters from mountains and forests to Toyo-oka city. Thesedebris and logs created a barrier in therivers, resulting in overflows and flooding.
This
wascausedbyimpropermanagement of planted forests, culling oftrees, and clearing of ground cover – anexample of an upstream issue having
significant
downstream
impacts.
Significant amounts of these debris
eventually found their way to the Japan
Sea, causing environmental degradationof the coastal areas and fishing zones.
Effect on the local ecology: Toyo-oka is
Residents remove silt from their homesfamous for its natural environment, and as
one of the last reserves for the nesting ofWhite Oriental Storks, an endangered migratory bird species. Several
programs and initiatives have been implemented by the city to protectthese birds. The typhoon caused considerable damage to the natural
habitat of these birds.
Effect to the local economy: Due to its rich ecology and environment,
Toyo-oka is the destination of many tourists, and significant part of thecity’s income is based on local tourism (for example, from nearby hot
springs, local seafood, and bird watching). The effect of the typhoon on

Page 8

Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

the ecology and environment will have deep-rooted impact on the local
economy, and the revival will require significant time and efforts.
J Tokage Typhoon: Experiences of the Hyogo Prefecture
In order to understand the continuum of action and coordination from local
to national levels, discussion and interviews were also conducted with the
Hyogo Prefecture Government's Disaster Management Division. Following
are the major observations and lessons learnt:• Need to enhance communication system: Due to failure of
telecommunication system, direct information on damages and intensityof the typhoon could not be properly transmitted to other prefectures.
Therefore, there is a strong need to improve the communication system,
particularly to share the information before and during the time ofdisasters.
• Need to incorporate environment issues in disaster management:
Current disaster management plans of the prefecture do not concretely
incorporate environmental issues. In contrast, environmental issues arehandled by a separate department, which has few links to disasterissues.
• Relief versus long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction: In most cases,
the emergency committee after the disaster focuses on the emergency
response, and inter-agency coordination only. Reconstruction efforts
are handled by individual departments as part of their everyday duties.
Thus, there is the lack of integration of different issues and disciplines,
and environment aspects are no exception. Long-term impacts ofenvironment are often overlooked as a result.
• Need for a proactive link between research and practice: It is often foundthat the practitioners at prefecture and city governments are not awareof research results conducted in universities and research institutions.
Thus, opportunities for information exchange in the form of study groups
and/or participatory training programmes should be created, wherepractitioners can interact with experts and resources persons on acontinual basis.
• Training of community leaders: Similar to the above interaction,
opportunities for training of community leaders should also be created,
and interactions among the practitioners and the community members
promoted.
• Dissemination of experiences to other prefectures: It is important andrelevant to share experiences of good practices with other prefecturesand regions. Incentives to the prefecture to undertake certain innovative
approaches are also important – for example, in the form of awards orprizes. The prefecture should take pride of the incentive, and should
promote its dissemination to other prefectures, and thereby motivating
its neighbors.
It has to be noted, however, that waste management (collection, treatment,
processing, disposal and incineration) is well organized in Japan, via strong
laws and regulations, and good implementation of programmes by local
governments. It particularly, also includes hazardous wastes. This may
have contributed to a significantly lower impact of the typhoon.

Page 9Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in JapanJ Tokage Typhoon: Experiences of the Cabinet OfficeInterviews were also conducted with the Cabinet Office of Japan to discuss
the issues and problems related to disaster and environment management,with specific focus on the Tokage Typhoon. Following are the main
excerpts:•

Basic Disaster Management Structure at the National Level:
There are two schemes regarding natural disasters in Japan atnational level, as prescribed in the Basic Disaster Countermeasures
Act.
a) Central Disaster Management Council (headed by Prime
Minister) for disaster management planning (pre-disaster). All
the concerned ministries are the members of the Council. The
Cabinet Office plays the coordination role.
b) Emergency center (headed by Prime Minister) to be set up at
the time of a disaster (post-disaster). Here too, the Cabinet
Office plays a coordination role; however, relief measures andreconstruction are responsibilities of local governments.
Concerned ministries play specific roles, under their own
mandate.

•Typhoon Tokage and Waste Management Issues:
Two ministries are primarily responsible for the waste management.
Ministry of Environment deals with waste produced by the disasterevent, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare handles
debris and rubble, resulting from collapsed buildings andinfrastructure. Since Tokage produced an unusual amount ofwaste, it was the primary responsibility of the Ministry ofEnvironment to work with local governments, and provide resources(both technical and financial).

•

Volunteer Management:
Coordination efforts by volunteers were very effective for Tokage.
This was a unique exercise of cooperation and coordination among
the local government and non-government organizations. Special
relief experts were sent in the volunteer teams for coordination.

•

Need for interlinkages between environmental management anddisaster preparedness:
Although not much was done, the experiences from the Tokage
Typhoon point out a strong need to interlink environment
management and disaster preparedness. Environment issue is not
merely a “waste management” issue – it incorporates land use
management, forest management, river basin management and soon. For each of these items, different ministries are responsible,
e.g., Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) for landuse, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for the Forest
Management, and there is a need for close coordination among
these ministries, in formulation of policies for disaster management.
Upstream-downstream linkages in river basin management alsoneed similar close coordination.

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Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

4

Lessons Learned from the Tokage Typhoon

Typhoons are a special type of disaster, which not only affect the lives andlivelihoods of people and communities, but also poses a significant threat tothe ecology and natural environment, affecting air, water, land, forests andmountains. Therefore, the typhoon study demonstrates the clear link
between environment management and disaster
preparedness.

Poor forest cover and landslides

Immediately after the event, the major issue
tackled was debris and waste management at
the household and local levels. In most cases,
the houses were not destroyed, but wereaffected by water logging for 2-3 days anddamaged the house itself and its belongings.
Since the houses were not actually destroyed,no temporary housing was provided, and people
lived in emergency shelters for the first few days.
Thus, immediately after the event, the priority
was removal of wastes, so that people could
return to their homes.

The other aspect of the typhoon's impacts was the effect on the naturalenvironment. Not only was the surrounding environment affected, but the
impacts were also long-term, particularly on the surface and ground water
systems – including water pollution, siltation, and floating debris.
Lessons learned from the Tokage typhoon in Toyo-oka can be classified
into three parts: 1) infrastructure management, 2) policy, strategy, andplanning, and 3) community activities. These are described below:
J Lessons in infrastructure management• Dyke Management: This emerged as a critical aspect of disasterprevention and flood management, and is especially relevant to cities
and areas located along rivers. Two issues
came to the fore: a) need for regularinspection of dyke systems, and b)
reconciliationofdesignvalueswith
unexpected rainfall values.
• Urban and land-use management: Many of
the river banks are an integral part of thecity's leisure areas, and are zoned as'urbanization control areas' and as naturepreserves - where building construction
cannot take place in close proximity.
• Forest Management: One of the important
aspects of disaster preparedness is proper
Flooding and silting of agriculture lands
forest management in mountain areas. Manyof these areas are characterized by planted monoculture forests andshallow anchorage of trees. To enhance growth of stronger trees, somePage 11

Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in Japanof the slow-growing trees are culled, but not cleared since these do nothave any market value. During a typhoon, these wood debris are
washed downstream, clogging the rivers. Proper forest management isa key to reducing the impacts of flooding
during disasters.
• River Basin Management: Typhoon and flood
management should be undertaken in an
integrated way, looking at the river basin as awhole.
Proper upstream management offorests also enhances disaster management
efforts downstream, and similarly, downstream
river management enhances upstream
environmental management.
J Lessons in policy, strategy and planning• Inter-linkages between disaster preparedness
Effects on the planted forestsand environmental management: The first andthe most important lesson that emerged fromthe Toyo-oka visit was the inter-linkages between disaster preparedness
and environmental management in policies and plans at the local andnational levels. Disaster management plans should incorporate
environmental dimensions, and should anticipate theimpact of disasters on the environment, as well as theimpact of environmental practices (for example, forest
and river management) on the impacts of disasters.
• Plans and Programmes:
While disaster andenvironmental management should be linked todevelopment planning, broader river basin management
should also be considered in disaster programmes, andshould be linked to the overall city management
strategy.
• Dissemination, adaptation and implementation: Many ofthe lessons from the past disasters in the same country
are relevant to other cities/ areas, but are often notdisseminated properly.
Cooperation of cities andprefectures in this regard is essential for adaptation andimplementation of the lessons learnt.
• Training and human resource development: Proper
Toyo-oka residents are rescued fromtraining and human resource development programmes
rooftops after extensive flooding
should be undertaken not only for disaster managers,
but also for high level decision makers such as city mayors. Training indecision-making systems is essential in this regard to integrate disaster
preparedness and response into the larger development andmanagement of cities in general.
J Lessons in community activities• Perception versus action: While an evacuation order was issued by the
Toyo-oka Mayor to 42,000 people, only 3,800 people actually evacuatedduring the disaster. This indicates the differences in perception, and theaction taken. While people are quite aware of the risks involved, and ofrisk mitigation measures, it is not reflected in the action that they take.
• Preparedness for evacuation: The experiences of Toyo-oka also
demonstrates the need for the local government and community to work

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Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

together in organizing evacuation simulation exercises, and designating'disaster evacuation areas' for residents to assemble during a disaster.
• Self-reliability versus dependence: Toyo-oka has a traditional and strong
community, with high community bonds and social capital.
The
community had a sense of self-responsibility, and was actively involved
during past disasters. However, a new system of emergency radios thatthe city had introduced made people more reliant on the system. A
balanced approach that introduces new ideas without destroying local
existing systems is necessary.
• Public awareness: It is important to raise awareness of people andcommunities on the link between environmental management anddisaster preparedness. The link between upstream and downstream
issues should not only be reflected in river basin management, butshould also be incorporated in community awareness raising andimplementing projects at the local level.

Major Concern:
Post-disaster waste management
Typhoon Tokage produced a significant amount of waste, composed ofboth forest debris and household goods. A comparison with other affected
cities in the prefecture shows that the waste produced in Toyo-oka was
44,780 tons, as against 12,591 tons in Sumoto-shi in Awaji island (the next
largest production of waste in the prefecture, as a result of the typhoon).
Only four percent of the waste was treated as of the second week ofDecember, and city officials report that it would take another four months tocomplete the waste treatment. The estimated cost for waste treatment is
US$ 15-20 million, which poses a significant financial burden on the city's
budget, especially for smaller cities such as Toyo-oka.

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Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in Japan

5

Policy Implications for
Disaster Preparedness

Based on the above observations, following is a set of needs and future
recommended actions at the local, sub-national, national and regional
levels:• Need to raise awareness on the integration of environment and disasterissues: This is the first step, and should be done at different levels,
targeting (1) policy makers, to initiate policy dialogue at central,
prefecture and city levels; (2) professionals, to raise awareness among
managers; and (3) individuals, to raise awareness at community levels.
Proposed Actions: Arrange meetings, seminars, and forums
at different levels.
• Need to document and disseminate examples: Documentation and its
dissemination is one of the best ways to raise awareness of different
stakeholders on the need for good cooperation for disaster
preparedness.
Proposed Actions: Undertake field surveys after different
disaster events to document concrete examples anddisseminate it through the Internet, and in training and study
programmes.
• Need to bridge gaps between knowledge and practice: To enhance
understanding the need to integrate environment and disastermanagement, gaps between knowledge and practice should be reduced.
Experts, resource persons and practitioners should have opportunities tointeract and learn from each other’s experiences, for example, in
preparing disaster contingency plans.
Proposed Actions: Undertake and facilitate training
programmes
involvingexperts,resource
persons,
practitioners and community leaders through forums.
• Need to implement practical examples: While it is important to raiseawareness, provide training, and initiate policy dialogue, it is also
important to implement environment and disaster management practices
at the local level.
Proposed Actions: Undertake small projects at different
locations having different socio-economic contexts. These
will be learning experiences, which can also be disseminatedto other areas.
• Need to develop guidelines and tools on environment and disastermanagement: To provide a standard of environment and disastermanagement practices, guidelines and tools will have to be developed.
Proposed Actions: Guidelines and tools should be developed
based on the field experiences, and incorporating thecomments and expertise of practitioners and professionals
from different parts of the world.

Page 14

Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management• Need for continuous monitoring: It is required to continuously monitor the
progress in the practice of environment management and disaster
preparedness, and to distribute the lessons to develop policies andstrategies.
Proposed Actions: A network or partnership should be
developed which will continuously monitor different activities,
identify best practices, and disseminate through training andcapacity building programmes.

Major Concern:
Siltation and Effect on Agriculture Land
Typhoon Tokage had two major impacts on the agricultural land – one, theoverflow of river water with waste and silt, and second, the surge of saline
water from the sea. It had two cumulative effects, one on the silt and waste
deposit, and the other salinity of the soil. These two elements combined
together had a significant impact on the quality and productivity ofagricultural land, leaving many parts fallow. Effluence and siltation wereobserved in 418 places in Toyo-oka, and inundation affected more than
1,144 hectares. Similar observations were made in India and Philippines, inthe aftermath of typhoons, especially in coastal inland areas.

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Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in Japan

6

References and Further Information

J References• Cabinet Office “Securing the people’s safety: disaster management:
protecting people from disasters”, available at
http://www.cao.go.jp/disaster.pdf , accessed on 13 December 2004.
Tokyo: Cabinet Office, Government of Japan• Hyogo Prefectural Government “Disaster Management in Hyogo
Prefecture” Brochure, Kobe, March 2004
• Hyogo Prefectural Government “Phoenix Disaster Management System:
Prefecture Hyogo overall emergency management network for disaster
information exchange” Brochure, Kobe , 2004
• United Nations “World Conference on Disaster Reduction, 18-22
January 2005, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan” Background document, available at
http://www.unisdr.org/wcdr , accessed on 14 December 2004. Geneva:
Secretariat of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction• UNEP “United Nations Environmental Programme: Strategic frameworkon emergency prevention, preparedness, assessment, mitigation andresponse” Nairobi, 2003
• UNEP GRID-Arendal “Environment Times No. 3 - Special edition for theWorld Conference on Disaster Reduction January 18-22, 2005, Kobe,
Japan” Arendal, January 2005
• Cabinet Office, “Disaster Management in Japan” available at
http://www.bousai.go.jp/index.html, Tokyo March 2002. Tokyo: Cabinet
Office, Government of Japan• M. Nakagai “Presentation on Typhoon 23 at The Advisory Board of theSecretary-General on Water and Sanitation (UN), Tokyo, 9 Dec 2004 10 Dec 2004”
J Japan based websites
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Cabinet Office: http://www.cao.go.jp/index-e.html
Fire and Disaster Management Agency: http://www.fdma.go.jp/en/
Hyogo Prefecture: http://web.pref.hyogo.jp/english/index.html
Toyo-oka City: http://www.city.toyooka.hyogo.jp/ (only in Japanese)
Digital Typhoon: http://agora.ex.nii.ac.jp/digital-typhoon/
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center: http://www.adrc.or.jp/
UNEP-IETC: http://www.unep.or.jp/

J International websites• United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction:
http://www.unisdr.org/• World Conference on Disaster Reduction: http://www.unisdr.org/wcdr/• UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
http://ochaonline.un.org/• Relief Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/• United Nations Environment Programme : http://www.unep.org/
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Environmental Preparedness and Disaster Management

7

UNEP and Disaster Management

Environmental emergencies are sudden-onset disasters or accidents
resulting from natural or man-made factors or a combination of the bothfactors that cause or threaten to cause severe environmental damages aswell as loss of human lives and property.
Human populations are suffering from such environmental emergencies.
Natural disasters -- floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes are occurring
all over the world with increasing frequency and severity. Technologicalaccidents -- chemical releases, oil spills and nuclear leakage, etc. continue
to happen despite the efforts made. Furthermore, the number andcomplexity of emergencies involving a combination of natural and manmade elements are also growing.
This situation requires UNEP to develop a strategy for dealing withemergency prevention, preparedness, assessment, mitigation andresponse.
Further, the document serves as a generic and rolling framework which will
be subjected to regular revisions consonant with new and emerging
international and global agenda on disaster prevention, preparedness,
assessment, mitigation and response.
At its fifth special session held in May 1998, the Governing Council, in its
decision SS.V/2, identified environmental information, assessment andresearch, including environmental emergency response capacity and thestrengthening of early warning and assessment functions, as areas ofconcentration for the activities of UNEP. Subsequently at its 20th session
held in February 1999 in its decision 20/8, the Council requested the
Executive Director to focus and strengthen the contribution of UNEP's
environmental expertise to the coordination of United Nations system-wide
responses to disasters.
At the sixth special session of the Governing Council/ the First Global
Ministerial Environment Forum, held in May 2000 in Malmö, Sweden, theGoverning Council identified increasing environmental emergencies as oneof the environmental threats that needed to be addressed and expressed
support for UNEP's activities in response to environmental emergencies.
UNEP’s overall programmes on the environment are actually long-term
measures that intuitively address the issue of environmental emergency
prevention. Decisions by the Governing Council of UNEP in respect of
emergency prevention, preparedness, assessment,
mitigation andresponse therefore solidly enhance and refine UNEP's mandate. As theimpact of environmental emergencies has become more pronounced andas global responses to emergencies have received more attention fromwithin the United Nations, the function of UNEP has grown increasingly
important. UNEP’s special mandates, to assess global environmental
conditions in order to identify potential environmental problems and new
ways to address the complex effects of environmental change on
Page 17

Lessons learnt from the Tokage Typhoon (Typhoon no.23 of2004) in Japansustainable development and to underscore the transnational character ofthe global environment agenda, require UNEP to pay particular attention to
the broad causes and effects of environmental emergencies.
In defining the future role for UNEP within United Nations emergencyrelated activities, the following goals are paramount: to reinforce theimportance of environmental concerns in emergency prevention,
preparedness, assessment, mitigation and response; to integrate
environmental concerns into planning for relief, rehabilitation,
reconstruction and development; bring to the attention of the United
Nations and its partners and national governments the transnational andglobal environmental aspects of emergencies; and to enhance UNEP's
capacity to undertake short and medium-term activities in environmental
emergencies based on long-term environmental considerations.
Each of these goals is intended to strengthen not only the capacity of
UNEP, but also the capacity of peoples and countries to prepare for
emergencies, survive catastrophes, manage resources to sustain
development and deploy resources to ensure the security of theenvironment.
Building on its current resources and strengths, UNEP’s primary role inemergencies is to marshal intellectual resources to ensure that theenvironmental aspects of emergencies are clearly understood and that theimperatives for prevention and preparedness, including assessment andearly warning, are fully recognized as critical to human and environmental
security. To develop and maintain an environmental agenda for emergency
prevention and preparedness, UNEP must translate its sectoral
responsibilities into a broader capacity to act as a think tank for the United
Nations on environmental matters. This effort requires four concurrent
investments by UNEP: developing methodologies for early warning,undertaking environmental assessments of past and current emergencies,in collaboration with OCHA, other UN agencies and partners, building andmaintaining analytical capacity through training, and reinforcing institutional
structures that can help to prevent emergencies and alleviate their effects.
All of these concurrent investments should underscore UNEP’s role in thedevelopment of an agenda for environmental emergency prevention,
preparedness, assessment, mitigation and response.
UNEP's mandate for action with respect to environmental emergencies andenvironmental aspects of complex emergencies stems from decisions of
the Governing Council, requests of governments and availability ofresources. As part of UNEP's overall reform and revitalization process,increased importance has been given to environmental emergencies andthe strengthening of UNEP's capacity in the area of emergency prevention,
preparedness, assessment, mitigation and response.
UNEP's agenda for action, which will strengthen its environmental
emergency capacity, focuses on in prevention and preparedness,
assessment and early warning, mitigation and Response, communications,and publicity and resource mobilization.

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A photograph of Toyo-oka city from the 1960s, illustrating the critical need for a symbiotic
existence with the environment. The photo shows farmers working in a field with wild Oriental
Storks, cows, and other animals.

United Nations Environment Programme
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Tel: (254-20) 621234
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