### d. Strengthening the Flood Prevention Framework

Coordination with prefectures and flood prevention administration bodies for joint inspections of levees before flooding season and training exercises for communicating information, seminars for flood prevention technology, and flood prevention drills are carried out to ensure that areas requiring special attention and flood prevention technology is mastered from the perspective of flood prevention to protect lives and assets, to assist the creation of a flood prevention framework that minimizes damages.

Aside from the increased frequency of heavy rainfall disasters throughout the country, the flood fighting readiness of local communities are weakening due to the decrease in flood defense personnel among other factors, so to strengthen regional flood fighting capabilities through the participation of various entities, the “Flood Control Act” was revised in June 2013 to: 1) strengthen the coordination of river administrator and flood fighting, 2) promote initiatives to voluntarily secure evacuation and create inundation protection plans in facilities such as underground malls in areas vulnerable to inundation, facilities for people with special needs, and large-scale factories, and 3) expand the range allowed for the designation and scope of responsibilities for flood defense cooperating entities.

### e. Publicizing Forecasts and Warnings of Flooding and Providing River Information

The Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism or Prefectural Governor designate rivers with large river basins that are at risk of causing great damages to the nation’s economy or other great losses as flood forecast rivers and during floods issue flood forecasts (including flood warnings, cautions, dangers, and occurrence information) indicating the water level or flood volume jointly with the Director-General of the Japan Meteorological Agency. Also, aside from flood forecast rivers, important middle to small rivers are designated as water level alert rivers and during floods, when the water level reaches evacuation levels (special caution water levels) when evacuation calls are issued, this information is also disseminated. Currently as of the end of March 2014, there are 417 flood forecast rivers and 1,555 water level alert rivers.

The water level, rainfall volume, flood forecasts, flood prevention alarms and other river information is collected, processed, and edited in real-time and made available to river administrators, municipalities, residents, and others on the website “River Disaster Prevention Information Note $ ^{1} $ ” to be utilized in issuing warnings and evacuation during floods.

Also, the data broadcast function of digital terrestrial television is being used in cooperation with broadcasters for efforts to provide river water levels and rainfall volume information and by March 2014, 50 broadcast stations nationwide are providing such services. For the observation of rainfall volume, to deal with floods and sediment disasters due to the increased frequency of concentrated downpours and localized heavy rainfall (so called sudden showers) in recent years, XRAIN (MLIT X-band MP radar network) $ ^{Note 2} $ is being developed, which makes more detailed and real-time rainfall volume observation possible, for more appropriate river administration and disaster prevention activities in addition to the traditional radar rain gauge (C-band radar) and meteorological observation networks. Rainfall volume information is also available on the Internet and an observation system consisting of 35 stations was established as of the end of March 2014.

### f. Designation of Areas Vulnerable to Inundation

To raise awareness of the dangers from flooding, work to ensure the effective evacuation of residents, and guide appropriate land use, districts that are likely to be inundated when the river floods (flood forecast districts) are designated and information such as the depth of flooding is publicized in accordance with the “Flood Control Act”.

Also, so that residents can smoothly and rapidly initiate evacuation measures even when flood inundations occur, technical support for the creation and communication of hazard maps is offered to municipalities creating hazard maps designed to give residents necessary information to secure evacuation such as flood information, evacuation areas, and flood forecasts as well as opening a portal site $ ^{Note\ 3} $ on the MLIT homepage where all domestic hazard maps can be viewed.