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On July 13, 2020, the Prime Minister visited Kumamoto Prefecture to inspect the state of the damage caused by the heavy rain in July 2020.
 
The Prime Minister first visited the disaster site of Senju-en nursing home of the village of Kuma, Kuma District. Afterwards, the Prime Minister held an exchange of views with Mr. MATSUTANI Koichi, Mayor of the village of Kuma, at the Kuma Village Integrated Athletics Park. Following that, the Prime Minister visited an evacuation center in the city of Hitoyoshi. Finally, the Prime Minister held an exchange of views at Hitoyoshi City Hall with Mr. KABASHIMA Ikuo, Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, and Mr. MATSUOKA Hayato, Mayor of the city of Hitoyoshi.
 
After the visit, the Prime Minister said,
 
“To begin with, I extend my sincere condolences for those who have lost their lives in the recent heavy rains, and express my heartfelt sympathy to all those who have been affected.
 
Today, I visited some of the disaster-affected areas. I witnessed with my own eyes the immense damage left by the overflowing of rivers, flooding and other disasters caused by the extreme amount of rain. At the evacuation centers, I had opportunities to hear directly from some of the disaster victims, who are facing very challenging times, about their hardship and their concerns such as what will await them going forward or whether their communities will survive.
 
The government will continue to exert every effort to search for those missing and restore lifelines. At the same time, based on the needs of those areas, it will work as one and advance expeditiously the supports for the daily lives of the disaster victims, such as by providing push-mode support and securing emergency housing. For our immediate response, in order to further strengthen push-mode support, we will make a Cabinet Decision to approve disbursements for push-mode support from the contingency funds.
 
Moreover, farmers, foresters and fishermen, and micro-, small- and medium-sized business operators have been significantly impacted by the recent novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Against this backdrop, they are now experiencing this disaster. They must be going through such a severe situation that they could be losing the strength to continue businesses. The government will collaborate with local governments and thoroughly back them up. To that end, we will make full use of financial resources exceeding 400 billion yen, which combine budget items for disaster recovery with contingency funds, and swiftly compile a policy package for supporting those who are affected.
 
After this, I will hold a meeting of the Emergency Headquarters for the Heavy Rain in July 2020 in Tokyo and issue a series of instructions at the meeting. The government will do whatever possible, following through with a field-based approach, to support the daily lives and livelihoods of the disaster victims, and the recovery of local communities.”
 
Responding to questions from reporters, the Prime Minister said,
 
“The disaster victims really want hands of support to be extended as early as possible. They want to move to a place where they can live with peace of mind as soon as possible. In their daily lives, support in the form of push-mode support is truly necessary. To date, we have experienced many disasters, and the need for push-mode support has been extremely high each time.
 
Kumamoto Prefecture has experienced the earthquake and, I believe, it has been organized to relay this kind of push-mode support smoothly from the national government to the prefecture, to municipalities, and to the disaster-affected areas. We will exert every effort to ensure that the necessary supplies are delivered ahead of time and as early as possible, and that the disaster victims can move into housings that they can live in with peace of mind as soon as possible.”
 
“I have just visited the nursing home, and offered a silent prayer. In this case, drawing on the lessons from past disasters, the nursing home has conducted evacuation drills twice a year. Based on these drills, in order to prepare for landslides, they first assembled at the cafeteria on the first floor; the river overflowed at a speed beyond imagination, resulting in this truly tragic event. We must thoroughly apply the lessons learned from this disaster in future.”
 
“The election result was very disappointing. The Liberal Democratic Party will ensure that the prefectural government will be run for the residents in Kumamoto, and cooperate with it, case by case, and certainly for the sake of the residents.”