Oct 11, 2019
Favorite resources/apps for emergencies?
With Typhoon Hagibis just around the corner, I'm curious about your favorite apps or other resources for emergencies. I particularly like Western Pacific Weather on Facebook for info on Japan's typhoons, but I'd love to get info on other resources you may find useful!
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on Oct 11
I find the Japan Meteorological Agency website to be easy enough to navigate and it seems to get straight to the point without any gimmick or unnecessary clutter. The weather app on iPhone I think is pretty useless. I approach Twitter with caution in regards to emergency info. I mean, I think it's good to let you know when something is coming, like a typhoon, for example, but the finer details can get lost in all the scaremongering, posturing and desperate appeals for likes and clicks. I prefer to check the major Japanese news outlets for finer details of an emergency -- Japan Times, Kyodo, Mainichi et al. Whatever you might think of their other content, their probably the most reliable source when it comes to fact-checking. I have to say, I don't go for anything that sends out an alarm or makes my phone vibrate or anything like that (although I can't seem to stop whatever it is that makes my phone scream when an earthquake hits). If you like looking at wind direction / simulations check out windy.com At home I still think it's hard to beat the TV for a wall of info, flashes and bleeps -- even if you can't understand Japanese, you can still get a general gist of the scale of things.
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on Oct 16
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on Oct 20
Besides the Japan Meteorological Agency website in English, we depended heavily on Yahoo 天気災害 weather and disaster information for river flooding during Typhoon #19 Hagibis. https://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/river/ The website includes live camera feeds from the rivers and lists emergency and evacuation notices.
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on Oct 24
During the typhoon NHK Japan had live coverage with live English translation. I found this to be the most helpful and the most current--I was able to watch it on Facebook, but I heard people were also able to access the English translations on their TVs using the subtitle function on their remotes. Before the storm I also looked up specific emergency information from my ward/city government websites. I was able to see ahead of time if we were in a flood zone, landslide zone, etc. Japan also offers free wifi in the case of emergencies if need be.
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on Oct 24
5 Answers