Photo/Illutration Yutaka Kawase and his wife Aimi place a wheelchair in a vehicle for elderly residents in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture. The couple played a significant role in evacuating seniors in need when a massive landslide hit the coastal city on July 3. (Shiro Nishihata)

ATAMI, Shizuoka Prefecture--Yutaka Kawase and his wife Aimi had a sense of foreboding after they found the road they usually travel on blocked early July 3 due to flooding from an upstream river as heavy rains kept falling.

The couple run an elder-care taxi company, Izu Ohana, and were returning from a hospital to which they had taken an elderly patient.

“I hope this rain will not lead to something serious,” Kawase, 51, recalled saying to his wife, who was at the wheel of the wheelchair and stretcher accessible transportation taxi.

About two hours later on their way back to the company, their smartphones pinged with an alert from local authorities warning of a possible landslide. Their company is based in the Izusan district, much of which was wiped out in the massive landslide that day.

The couple saw numerous fire engines in the district blaring their sirens.

When they arrived at a parking lot near the company, it was packed with firefighters preparing to evacuate residents.

The Kawases also noticed that the district's welfare commissioners, who are tasked with assisting the elderly in emergency situations, were mingling with the firefighters.

The firefighters sought advice from the couple to give them a better understanding of the needs of local residents who might need assistance.

There are 12 welfare commissioners in the district. But those who required assistance to evacuate far outnumbered the commissioners, at 242.

Kawase and Aimi, 46, instantly realized they had to pitch in.

Splitting up, they first went to homes of people with dementia or those who have difficulty walking. They were able to quickly cover a lot of ground as they frequently visited the homes to pick up and drop off patients.

One of the homes Kawase visited was that of a couple both in their 80s.

The husband had difficulty walking. His wife was in a panic. “My husband cannot evacuate by himself,” she told Kawase with a hint of desperation.

Kawase told her to calm down and took her husband in a wheelchair to his taxi.

Aimi covered homes of the elderly near their company.

One resident tried to return home to pick up a cellphone when Aimi called out there was no time to waste.

Muddy water was fast approaching. She helped elderly residents into the vehicles of welfare commissioners and motorists traveling nearby who offered to help by taking them to a shelter.

Suddenly, she heard somebody shout, “Flee, it is getting very dangerous.” She put her foot on the accelerator and drove to safety.

Together with her husband, the couple helped 10 or so residents evacuate.

That evening, Aimi was stunned to see footage on her smartphone of the massive landslide crashing down on homes in the Izusan district.

The landslide swept away the next house but two from where their company is located.

Kawase moved to Atami and started the elder care taxi company eight years ago. He realized there was a need for such a service after seeing elderly people struggling to go up and down steep slopes.

Kawase said helping others out in a time of great need was a natural instinct, recalling how his life was saved at age 10 when he hovered on the brink of death with serious burns.

His familiarity with those living in vulnerable situations in the district proved to be an enormous help in the evacuation process.

“A disaster can occur anywhere,” Kawase said. “It is crucial for local residents to know who would have difficulty if they need to evacuate.”

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