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On August 23, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the 18th meeting of the Emergency Response Headquarters for the Heavy Rain in July 2018 at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
The Prime Minister said in his opening address,
 
“The very strong Typhoon No. 20* is expected to make landfall in the regions of Shikoku and Kinki tonight. There has been a concern of heavy rain over a wide area from before its landfall. In particular, the Shikoku and Tokai regions are expected to see record-breaking heavy rains approaching 1,000 millimeters in the total amount of rainfall including the rain caused by Typhoon No. 19**. It has given rise to the concerns that rivers may overflow as well as landslides and high water levels may occur. Please maintain a high level of vigilance. In particular, heavy rain will be falling in western Japan, which was affected by the torrential rain earlier this summer and where full restoration has not yet been achieved, while we have been undertaking various initiatives, including removing earth, sediments, and trees from rivers, strengthening our surveillance system of rivers through installing water-gauges, optimizing for emergency management and preparing drainage pump vehicles to respond, and starting temporarily applying one level higher criteria in the standards for evacuation advisories and orders. To prevent secondary disasters, I ask to take all  possible measures, including early initiation of evacuations, without worrying that it might ultimately have been unnecessary.
 
Yesterday, Minister of State for Disaster Management Okonogi convened an Inter-Agency Disaster Alert Meeting and the Government is now on heightened alert. I ask that each of you work in unity as the Government to implement measures to prevent damages wherever possible, including proactively giving advice which lead to evacuations in a timely manner, working closely with local governments and related agencies and organizations.
 
I ask that the people of Japan take action at an early stage to protect their lives by evacuating while it is still light out as the typhoon will make landfall at night.”
 
* Typhoon Soulik
** Typhoon Cimaron