A director from news every. who had returned to his hometown of Shika Town, Ishikawa Prefecture, was affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake. As a victim himself, he helped out at an evacuation shelter and filmed a week in the town, which experienced a seismic intensity of 7. When the big tremor hit on New Year's Day and he ran outside with only the clothes on his back, a tsunami warning sounded. Even after evacuating to higher ground with his family, the tsunami warning was not lifted for a while, so he spent the night there. On the morning of the second day, when he returned to his parents' house, he found his parents standing there in a daze. There was no damage from the tsunami, but the wall had collapsed. Inside the house, shelves and dressers had fallen over and it was a mess. Not knowing when another big earthquake would hit, he decided to sleep in his car that day. Luckily, there was electricity, so he tried to boil water in the kitchen of his parents' house, but there was another big tremor... The instant noodles he made while fearing the aftershocks were the first meal he had eaten 27 hours after the earthquake. On the third day, he learned that a water truck was coming from Yamanashi as a volunteer, so he headed to the evacuation shelter. There were 260 residents in the evacuation center, but the number has decreased since the first day. The person in charge of the evacuation center is Mr. Kobashi, the district chief. He was a teacher from his elementary school days. According to Mr. Kobashi, "We haven't received any relief supplies... We only have this much emergency food." At this time, he hesitated to turn the camera on, even though he felt he should report on the situation at the evacuation center. Perhaps sensing his feelings, the district chief's wife, Misako, called out to him. "You're feeling hesitant, aren't you? You don't need to feel that way. Now is the important time. Come on, take a picture now." From that day on, he began reporting while cleaning up his family's house that had been affected by the disaster. A neighborhood grandmother smiled at the warm meal that all the residents had brought with them... "Thank you for including meat today. It's delicious." However, the grandmother said she was "sorry" to have to take care of him at the evacuation center. From the fourth day, he started taking pictures while participating in soup kitchens and other activities. The residents gathered around Mayor Inaoka of Shika Town, who visited the evacuation center. What they are concerned about is the restoration of lifelines. When residents asked how long the water outage would last, the mayor said, "It can't be said for a month or even two months." Residents could not hide their disappointment. Although the evacuation center had a minimum amount of drinking water, there was no water for daily use to wash hands. The district chief's wife, Misako, said she was worried about infectious diseases, the new coronavirus, and influenza. "If we get it here, it's over. We can't isolate people, so everyone will get it. We have to protect it at all costs." At the evacuation center, people shared well water to get by, but they couldn't wash their hands properly after using the toilet, and there was a shortage of disinfectant, so they continued to live anxious days. Meanwhile, on the floor where everyone was living, residents with microphones were calling on everyone to do exercises and stretches to move their arms and legs. It was started by disaster-stricken residents who talked to each other about how it would help them get rid of the lack of exercise they were getting from evacuation life. In addition, they often see each other at district events and have daily interactions... "Why does it smell so good?" "Why? Because we made it delicious." They would laugh and exchange things like, "Why does it smell so good?" "Why? Because we made it delicious." It seemed like they were trying to act cheerful so as not to get depressed. After the fourth day, the relief supplies, especially food, were gradually improved. When preparing commercially available rice balls, I was advised to "remove the seaweed" and "it sticks to the back of the throat." The wife of the district chief, Mimasaka-san, who has experience as a nurse, warned, "elderly people can choke on seaweed." Nishiura district has the highest proportion of elderly people in Shika town, at about 70%, and care must be taken with food. I learned for the first time that some disaster victims cannot eat food as it is. Day 5. At the evacuation center, where the disaster victims had been supporting each other, some of them started to show signs of fatigue. They were saying to each other, "We're overwhelmed, but we have to be cheerful," "We have to laugh," and "We have to accept it." Even in such a situation... "I saw a rainbow just now. It was double. I took a picture thinking it was telling me to do my best." By sharing these little happiness with everyone, they maintained their cheerfulness. Day 6. Based on information we received from residents at the evacuation center, we drove more than two hours to a super public bath in Kanazawa with my family. It seemed like daily life had returned to Kanazawa City, about 50 kilometers from Shika Town. Many victims of the disaster have been visiting the super public bath since the disaster. My mother said, "I realized how happy it is to be able to pour hot water over myself," after taking a bath for the first time in five days. Day 7. The evacuation center began to provide not only rice balls and cup noodles, but also fruit. The number of residents staying at the evacuation center had increased to 62. Perhaps because many people returned to their homes or sought refuge with family in areas with less damage, the number was about one-fifth of that of the first day. Seeing this situation, we decided to return to Tokyo. When we said goodbye, the residents handed us apples and said, "Take care and stay healthy." The people in the area sent us off warmly. They taught us the importance of caring for each other and helping each other even in difficult times. I felt that our week at the evacuation center was made possible by their caring hearts. (From "news every." broadcast on January 12, 2024) ◇Nippon Television News Bureau's social media X / news24ntv TikTok / ntv.news Facebook / ntvnews24 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ntv_news24/... ◇【Latest news now available】NTV NEWS https://news.ntv.co.jp/ #NTV​​ #News​​ #NotoPeninsulaEarthquake #IshikawaPrefecture #ShikaTown #Earthquake #Magnitude7 #Tsunami #Aftershocks #Damage #EvacuationShelter#DisasterAffected #ElderlyJanuary 23, 2024 Community Post