The emergency alert levels

An area of Kawagoe got a level 5 alert in the middle of the night. In my area we got a level 4 alert. The alert came in on my phone, just after 2 am, as a wailing siren that frightened the life out of me. My phone was set to silent mode, but the emergency alert system overrides that to ensure everyone is aware that there is a threatening situation. In the case of the early hours of this morning: flood risks. 

The flood risks have arisen due to the powerful typhoon 'Shanshan' that is moving through Japan at a snail's pace. A slow typhoon is bad news, especially when it is a powerful typhoon. It means that rainfall falls for longer and increases the risks of floods and landslides. As the typhoon is currently southwest, I really didn't expect this area (Kawagoe) to see so much rain so soon. So the alert in the middle of the night caught me off guard. Its also a long time since this area was at risk of flooding. The last time was typhoon Hagibis in 2019. Therefore, I was a bit rusty on the levels and meaning of the alerts. 

Thankfully, I was able to find the pictured photo in the middle of the night. It was on the Bousai website. Bousai 防災 means disaster prevention. The linked website is the Disaster Management Cabinet Office in Tokyo. On the linked page you can also find links to the same information in 13 other languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, Nepali, Khmer, Burmese, Mongolian. The Japan Meteorological Agency also has similar information, and in the same languages. 

As you can see from the photo the emergency levels go from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most serious. They advise that you evacuate if you get a level 4 alert, which is what we got last night. However, we did not evacuate, because we actually weren't in the risk zone. The alert is sent out to surrounding areas too. So even if you get an emergency alert to your phone, you may not need to evacuate. You can check the information of your local city or town hall for more specific directions for the area you live in.

Stay safe all!