Disaster Relief

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck offshore east of the Tohoku region on February 13, 2021, and damaged more than 20,000 houses in the region.
In response to a request from the Yamamoto-cho Social Welfare Council (Miyagi Prefecture), PBV has implemented relief activities by experienced staff on March 8 to put up tarpaulins on damaged roofs. PBV has been working on relief projects in Chiba, where houses were severely damaged by typhoons since the autumn of 2019 and contributed to the capacity building of local volunteers who can respond to the damage on houses. The PBV staff members who have experience and expertise developed during the relief efforts in Chiba have been dispatched to Yamamoto-cho to train the members of local and national support organizations, such as the Yamamoto-cho Social Welfare Council, Yamamoto-cho Town Office, JVOAD, and Miyagi-based non-profit organization OPEN JAPAN.

Related articles:
Emergency Relief for 2021 Fukushima Prefecture Offshore Earthquake

Since the beginning of October 2020, nine provinces in central Vietnam experienced torrential rains and seven tropical storms by the end of November. Landslides and floods caused enormous damage to the communities in the region, including loss of more then 240 lives. The United Nations Country Office in Vietnam estimates the disaster affected 7.7 million people and support in every sector, including food, livelihood, health and education, is in urgent need. PBV set us an emergency relief fund to support the Da Nang Youth Union, which has been actively involved in relief projects in and around the city of Da Nang. As of February 2021, the fund supported 200 families in flooded communities in Da Nang with food packages.

Related article:
2020 Vietnam Emergency Fund Raising :Severe Flooding and Storms

On July 25th, the Wakashio, a cargo ship owned and operated by a Japanese company, ran aground in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Pointe d’Esny in southeastern Mauritius. The accident caused fuel from the ship to begin leaking out into the surrounding coral reefs on August 6th, resulting in over 1000 tons of oil polluting the nearby waters and coast lines. The Mauritius government has declared a ‘state of environmental emergency.’ In order to support the recovery efforts by local NGOs in Mauritius, Peace Boat Disaster Relief (PBV) has launched a fund-raising campaign for emergency relief. Donations will be used to support the activities of the Mauritian Wildlife Fund (MWF) and Environmental Protection and Conservation Organization (EPCO) working towards nature conservation and economic recovery of fishing communities.

Related articles:
Call for donations: Mauritius Oil Spill Emergency Relief Fund
Update: Mauritius Oil Spill Emergency Relief

Prolonged rainy season with torrential rains in 2020 brought severe floods in the southern and western Japan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Kumamoto Prefecture was the worst-hit with loss of 65 lives. Due to the pandemic, PBV first started providing expertise and supplies to the humanitarian organizations based in Kumamoto and surrounding prefectures, then dispatched experienced staff members who had been tested negative for COVID-19 after the official request from the local authority of Kuma-mura, Kumamoto Prefecture. The dispatched members engaged in supporting operations at an evacuation center until its closure in the end of October. Another team continues to second in Hitoyoshi-city, Kumamoto prefecture, to coordinate the activities of the local volunteer center. The project has been supported by various donations and grants, including Japan Platform.

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Call for Donations: Emergency Relief for Torrential Rains and Flooding in Kyushu 2020
July 2020 Torrential Rains: PBV’s Relief Projects Launched
[Torrential Rain in July 2020] PBV launches relief efforts in Kuma-mura, Kumamoto Prefecture
Update: Relief efforts in Kumamoto continue

Typhoons 15 and 19 struck the Kanto region a month apart in September and October 2019 respectively. One severely affected area was Chiba prefecture. Due to the strength of the typhoons, many roofs had been blown away from houses, resulting in water seepages and difficulties for residents to live in their homes whenever it rained. To tackle this problem, PBV partnered with other relief organizations and gathered staff members who had expertise in roof building and maintenance to fortify existing roofs and build sturdier ones. Beyond this, PBV also helped manage the newly formed Southern Chiba Disaster Relief Volunteer Center to coordinate aid efforts throughout the area and share expertise and experiences. The project does not only focus on the temporary repairing of the roofs but also focus on capacity building of local residents to prepare for the future disasters. This project is supported by various donors and grantors including the US-based Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

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Emergency Assistance: Post-typhoon Blackouts in Chiba
Call for donations: Emergency Fund for Typhoon Relief in Japan
Updates on Typhoon Hagibis Relief: New Grant Awarded for Projects in Iwaki and Chiba
Typhoons Faxai and Hagibis: Local volunteers take the lead for full recovery of Chiba communities

Typhoon No. 19 also struck Fukushima prefecture in October 2019. In Iwaki city, PBV worked with the Iwaki city social welfare council to match the needs of residents with resources available. PBV carried out a wide ranging relief operations in collaboration with the local authority, other humanitarian organizations and local residents. Food distribution, cleaning up of houses as well as the setting up of temporary communal areas were also activities that PBV participated in to support the local community. More than 2,300 volunteers from Japan and overseas joined in diverse projects in Iwaki. This project is also supported by various donors and grantors including the US-based Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

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Call for Volunteers! Typhoon 19 Emergency Relief in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture: 15-17 Nov., 2019
Call for volunteers and donations! Typhoon Relief 2019
Typhoon Hagibis Situation Update: Relief activities in Iwaki
Typhoon Relief in Iwaki: Project period extended and more volunteers sought
Activity Summary: Typhoon Relief in Iwaki, Fukushima
Typhoon Hagibis: Helping Iwaki community get back on its feet

On 11th March 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck the north-east of Japan, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed over ２22,000 lives, washed away coastal cities, destroyed critical infrastructure and crippled thousands of businesses. Approximately 470,000 were displaced and 400,000 structures were partially or totally destroyed by the tsunami. The tsunami also destabilized the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, leading to a major leak in radiation, which continues to cause severe human, environmental and economic damage to this day. Peace Boat/ PBV first entered the Tohoku region on March 17th, within a week of the unprecedented triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear), and set up an operation base in Ishinomaki City.

Project overview
List of supporters
Media coverage
Related website:
“Voices from the ground” : Personal stories of the volunteers joined in the Peace Boat/ PBV emergency operation in Ishinomaki in 2011-12.

Typhoon No. 12 (Talas), Wakayama Prefecture, Japan (Sep 2011)
Van Earthquakes, Turkey (Oct 2011)

Heavy Snow, Niigata Prefecture, Japan (Feb 2012)
North Kyushu torrential rains, Kyushu Region, Japan (Jul 2012)
Hurricane Sandy, USA (Oct 2012)
Earthquake, Guatemala (Nov 2012)

Moore Tornado, Oklahoma, USA (May 2013)
Torrential rain, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (Jul 2013)
Torrential rain, Iwate Prefecture, Japan (Aug 2013)
Torrential rain, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan (Aug 2013)
Typhoon No. 18 (Man-yi), Shiga Prefecture, Japan (Sep 2013)
Typhoon No. 26 (Wipha), Izu Oshima island, Tokyo, Japan (Oct 2013)
Typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines (Nov 2013)

Heavy snow, Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, Japan (Feb 2014)
Torrential rain, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (Aug 2014)
Typhoons No. 11 and 12 (Halong and Nakri), Tokushima Prefecture, Japan (Aug 2014)
Landslides, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (Aug 2014)
Nagano earthquake, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (Nov 2014)
Typhoon Hagupit, the Philippines (Dec 2014)

Cyclone Pam, Vanuatu (Mar 2015)
Earthquake, Nepal (Apr 2015)
Torrential rains, Kanto and Tohoku regions, Japan (Sep 2015)

Kumamoto earthquake, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (Apr 2016)
Typhoon No. 10 (Lionrock), Iwate Prefecture, Japan (Sep 2016)
Hurricane Matthew, Haiti and Cuba (Oct 2016)

North Kyushu Torrential Rains, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (Jul 2017)
Typhoon No. 21 (Lan), Mie Prefecture, Japan (Oct 2017)

North Osaka Earthquake, Osaka Prefecture, Japan (Jun 2018)
Fuego Volcano Eruption, Guatemala (Jun 2018)
West Japan Torrential Rains, Okayama Prefecture, Japan (Jul 2018)
Eastern Iburi Earthquake, Hokkaido, Japan (Sep 2018 – Mar 2019)

Cyclone Idai, Mozambique (Mar 2019)
North Kyushu Torrential Rains, Saga Prefecture, Japan (Aug 2019)
Typhoons Faxai and Hagibis, Chiba Prefecture, Japan (Sep 2019)
Typhoon Hagibis, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (Oct 2019)

Bushfires, Australia (Jan 2020)
Torrential Rains, Kumamoto Prefecture (Jul 2020)
Oil Spill Disaster, Mauritius (Aug 2020)
Floods and Typhoons in Central Vietnam, Vietnam (Dec 2020)