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. 2022 Jan 21;19(3):1188.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031188.

Managing Compound Hazards: Impact of COVID-19 and Cases of Adaptive Governance during the 2020 Kumamoto Flood in Japan

Takako Izumi  1 , Sangita Das  2 , Miwa Abe  3 , Rajib Shaw  4
Affiliations

Managing Compound Hazards: Impact of COVID-19 and Cases of Adaptive Governance during the 2020 Kumamoto Flood in Japan

Takako Izumi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Japan experienced natural hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic as some other countries did. Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures, including many other parts of southern Japan, experienced record-breaking heavy rain on 4th July 2020. While many countries were affected by compound hazards, some cases such as the Kumamoto flood did not cause a spike of the COVID-19 cases even after going through massive evacuation actions. This study aims to understand how COVID-19 made an impact on people's response actions, learn the challenges and problems during the response and recovery phases, and identify any innovative actions and efforts to overcome various restrictions and challenges through a questionnaire survey and interviews with the affected people. With an increase in the risk of compound hazards, it has become important to take a new, innovative, and non-traditional approach. Proper understanding and application of adaptive governance can make it possible to come up with a solution that can work directly on the complex challenges during disasters. This study identified that a spike of COVID-19 cases after the disaster could be avoided due to various preventive measures taken at the evacuation centers. It shows that it is possible to manage compound hazard risks with effective preparedness. Furthermore, during emergencies, public-private-partnership as well as collaboration among private organizations and local business networks are extremely important. These collaborations generate a new approach, mechanism and platform to tackle unprecedented challenges.

Keywords: COVID-19; adaptive governance; compound hazards; evacuation; flood; volunteerism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impacts of COVID-19 and the flood.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Concerns of the respondents at the time of evacuation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Major problems at the evacuation centers.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Support provided by volunteers.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Hand sanitizer and thermography at the registration tables.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Hand sanitizers at mobile phone charging areas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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