In Akita City, where many houses were flooded by record-breaking rains, some people feel anxious because they do not know when they will be able to start construction even if they decide to repair their familiar homes.
In the Narayama district in the center of Akita City, a large area was submerged in water due to record-breaking heavy rainfall.
Junko Fujimura (77), who lives in this area, lived in a two-story house with her husband, but the heavy rain submerged her home with water up to about 2 centimeters above the floor.
At the time of the heavy rain, we evacuated to the second floor and were safe, but Fujimura recalled, "I watched various things flowing from the windows on the second floor, and I couldn't sleep at all because I felt like I had a house in a pond."
On the first floor of the house, most of the furniture, such as chests of drawers, is no longer usable, and a large hole about 30 meter 2 centimeters square is left on the floor that was drilled by a carpenter to remove mud.
In addition, my husband was hospitalized for back surgery that he had originally planned, and now he is sleeping at his daughter's house in another part of the city.
Fujimura said she and her husband decided to repair their home because they wanted to live in a familiar house, and now she wants to sleep on the second floor of her home, but she is worried about going up and down the stairs repeatedly to and from the first floor, where the kitchen and bath are located.
In addition, in order to start repair work on houses, it is necessary to dry the underfloors that have been exposed to water and disinfect them to prevent mold and pests, and with many other houses flooded, it is unclear when construction will begin.
Ms. Fujimura said, "I used to spend a relaxing time with my husband, but the sudden heavy rain changed my life. I want them to be back in a livable state as soon as possible."
Remodeling company "It may be one year before you can live there"
Regarding the repair of houses that have been flooded by heavy rains, the council of remodeling companies in Akita Prefecture says that the disinfection necessary before starting construction is expected to gradually begin around this weekend because the underfloor has been drying out due to the heat of the past few days.
However, there are many houses that have not finished shoveling mud and carrying out disaster waste, which are prerequisites for disinfection, and it is not clear when the repair work will be completed in all houses.
Furthermore, even if construction begins, depending on the scale of the flooding, it may not be possible to live in six months or one year.
This council is responding with the cooperation of contractors from outside the prefecture, but in order to start construction as smoothly as possible, we are calling for the drying of the underfloor first.