Approach to tornado disaster reduction in consideration of progress of the time before and after tornado case study of the may 6, 2012 Tsukuba City tornado disaster

A tornado of F3 attacked Hojo District of Tsukuba City on May 6, 2012 and caused massive damage. In the past, Japan experienced tornado hits with heavy damage, including Mobara City (F3) in 1990, Toyohashi City (F3) in 1999 and Saroma Town (F3) in 2006. There are several reports about the building damage caused by these tornados. However, there are few reports regarding human behavior before and after such tornado disasters, which might allow a research into the possibility of damage reduction. Besides, most local governments do not have the Disaster Recovery and Rehabilitation Plan for such tornado disasters. This studyanalyzes the behavior of victims before and after a tornado disaster using the tornado damage investigationsthat came out of Tsukuba City. Furthermore, the interview results to the local government officials werecollated with the testimony of the victims. Using all results, damage reduction methods are developed in consideration of progress of the time before and after tornado.