(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I have an announcement about heavy snow. Since January 21, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) have established the Heavy Snow Disaster Management Office within the MOD internal bureaus and have been continuously collecting information. On February 1, at 10:00 p.m., the Commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) 9th Division received a disaster relief request from the Governor of Aomori Prefecture, which included removing snow from the roofs of households, such as elderly people living alone, who cannot remove snow on their own. In Aomori Prefecture, where there has been intermittent snowfall since the 21st of last month, a large amount of snow has accumulated on the roofs of people’s homes. Furthermore, the forecast for February 4 onwards predicts the subsiding of cold temperatures and rain, which could cause houses to collapse due to the weight of rain-added snow and create life-threatening situations. In response, yesterday, at 7:30 a.m., members of the GSDF 5th Infantry Regiment verified the situation in Magonai district, Aomori City, as requested by the prefecture, and since then, have begun removing snow from the roofs of elderly households. Today, they are scheduled to continue removing snow from the roofs of elderly households and others in four districts of Aomori City. The details are currently being arranged. Based on past experience with heavy snow disaster relief operations, we are readying (snow removal) equipment, such as bucket loaders, so that SDF units in charge of regions forecast with heavy snow can continue to be sent in swiftly in the event of isolation of regions, among other issues. We will continue working closely with relevant ministries, agencies, local governments, and others concerned in responding to the situation with urgency.