Shelter for families with kids opens after Kumamoto earthquake
An evacuation shelter catering to the needs of pregnant women and families with children has been set up in Hikawa, a town in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, that was hit hard by a major earthquake in late July.
The specialized evacuation shelter, the only one of its kind in Kumamoto, was set up on Aug. 6.
It offers tents to each household for privacy and serves as a hub for gathering and distributing aid supplies related to child-rearing, such as powdered milk, baby food and diapers. Nurses, midwives and nursery teachers offer care there.
Fifth-nine people from 14 households were at the shelter as of Thursday, according to Yoshimi Kamiyoshihara, a nurse from the disaster medical assistance team secretariat at the Japan Institute for Health Security who has been supporting its launch and operation.
The number of users has been increasing as families have transferred from ordinary evacuation shelters after being warned that their children were noisy, and as others have become unable to continue living in their cars or at home, she said.
"Demand is higher than immediately after the disaster," Kamiyoshihara said.
Aid supplies gathered in an evacuation shelter for pregnant women and families with children, set up in Hikawa, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, photographed on Aug. 19 (Courtesy of the Hikawa town government
The Hikawa facility is one of so-called welfare evacuation shelters for people who require special care.
"While preparations for welfare evacuation shelters are increasing, most tend to be for the elderly and people with disabilities, and only a few municipalities are preparing facilities for mothers and children," she said.
Of the five municipalities in Kumamoto that have set up welfare evacuation shelters after the earthquake, only Hikawa has established a shelter for mothers and children.
In Yatsushiro, a Kumamoto city also hit hard by the earthquake, several expectant mothers are staying at ordinary evacuation shelters.
Mothers often avoid seeking refuge at welfare evacuation shelters, which are usually elderly nursing homes that do not have spaces for children to play and equipment for bathing infants.
Yoshimi Kamiyoshihara, a nurse who helped set up an evacuation shelter for pregnant women and families with children in Hikawa, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, photographed Aug. 19
Kamiyoshihara supported the opening of shelters for mothers and children after twin powerful earthquakes in Kumamoto in 2016 and a major earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, in 2024.
The Ishikawa city of Wajima opened such a shelter after the 2024 earthquake and has since worked to improve conditions for evacuees including through a review of its preparation plans.
Local governments are often unable to actually set up such a shelter even if they plan for it, Kamiyoshihara said.
"We want to work to ensure that (such shelters) are properly launched as part of local government services," she said.
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