[Western Japan Flooding] Interim Project Report: Flood Relief Efforts in Western Japan
In response to the disasters caused by the torrential rains and flooding in widespread areas of Western Japan in early July 2018, the Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center has been working to support the locals in Mabicho and surrounding areas. The relief effort started with a damage assessment by the dispatched expert staff members to identify the needs of the local residents, then moved to diverse support activities, ranging from hot meal distribution, assistance in evacuation center management, house cleaning, support for the operation of the volunteer center, community rebuilding and photo-cleaning. Hundreds of volunteers joined the PBV from all over Japan and overseas, relaying a baton of willingness to help to the next volunteers over the 250 days since the disaster.
Now the evacuation centers are closed and evacuees have moved to their temporary residence or returned to their homes after cleaning. But they are still in need of help with making their houses into homes, restoring their livelihood, and bringing back 
their memories in their hometown. The PBV is now moving from emergency relief phase to the next phase to create a long term support while enhancing the networks with the local stakeholders. The Kurashiki City Disaster Relief Volunteer Center, which has served as the front-line of the relief activities is relocating to a new venue on 1st April and renaming themselves to Mabi Recovery Support Volunteer Center to offer volunteering opportunities on weekends.
To mark the progress of the relief efforts and recovery of the community, the PBV has published an interim report on the project in Kurashiki. The report offers overview of the disaster, outline of the PBV’s activities and explanation on individual project teams. Both full report in Japanese and an excerpt in English are available for 
download now!
Click here to download the Interim Report on Flood in Western Japan in English.
Click here to download the Interim Report on Flood in Western Japan in Japanese.
Taking this opportunity, we would like to send our heartfelt gratitude to our donors, supporters and volunteers for making this project possible. The PBV will continue supporting people n Kurashiki, both onsite and from Tokyo, and updates on our support activities in Kurashiki will be shared on this website and our Facebook page.
*For information on the volunteering opportunities in Kurashiki, please visit the official website of the Kurashiki City Disaster Relief Volunteer Center/ Mabi Recovery Support Center.