On March 11th 2011 Tsunami attacked North East Japan and killed 20,000 people in an hour. Urakawa, a small town in Hokkaido, was hit by 2.8 m Tsunami on March 11th and lost 3 million US dollars properties including tens of cars washed away but there was no human casualties. When earthquake happened, people with severe psycho-social disabilities who are members of the Urakawa Bethel’s House could start evacuation immediately based on understanding through effective learning on Tsunami and drills they are conducting 4 times per year.
As a result of their swift and well trained evacuation action, the recommendation of the town mayor for evacuation to shelters was well and seriously accepted by the general public. In addition, people at large could easily found the best evacuation route by the action of 150 members of the Bethel’s House who are living in group homes in the communities.