By Sarah Maraschky | Communications Associate
February 1 marks the one month anniversary of the New Year’s Day earthquake on Japan’s Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. As of today, 240 people have died, and 15 others remain missing. Fortunately, the situation in the disaster zone is stabilizing, including a widespread restoration of power to homes that have been without it for weeks. However, thousands of people remain displaced, and the process of recovery and rebuilding will be a long one for the Noto community.
Over the last month, Peace Winds’ airborne search-and-rescue team, ARROWS, has been on the ground providing emergency aid in and around Suzu City. Our staff have noted a number of unique challenges that make the response here particularly difficult. For example, the majority (52%) of Ishikawa Prefecture’s population is elderly (65 years and older). Those with declining physical and mental health require extra care. Fortunately, many ARROWS staff specialize in caring for the elderly, and Suzu City maintains a strong sense of community where residents support one another.
Additionally, even Peace Winds’ seasoned disaster professionals have been surprised by the extent of the damage in Ishikawa Prefecture. Homes, businesses, and infrastructure have been damaged or completely destroyed, and many rural villages were cut off from the rest of the region. Staff say they are surprised but thankful that the death toll is not higher.
Despite the challenges, Peace Winds is working hard to meet the needs of earthquake survivors. Over the last month, teams on the ground have supported emergency relief in a number of ways:
Peace Winds is working to assess the long-term needs of survivors, and we are committed to maintaining our presence in the weeks and months ahead. Future recovery efforts will likely include support for mental health and medical care, economic revitalization, and community-building activities.
Peace Winds would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has donated, sent thoughtful notes, and started their own fundraisers in support of our GlobalGiving project. We are truly humbled by the initiative of people around the world to host fundraisers–from high school and college students in the U.S. and Japan to Japanese rockstar Nano. It means so much to our teams in Japan and around the world to see our followers coming together in support of a community in need. Peace Winds would not be able to carry out our relief efforts without your kindness and generosity.
We especially want to thank the United States-Japan Foundation for generously matching all donations up to $25,000 made through their fundraiser.
New donations to Peace Winds’ “Japan Disaster: Relief and Recovery” project will go toward relief and recovery activities in Ishikawa Prefecture as well as broader disaster preparedness efforts. We are grateful for your continued support.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser