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On July 30, 2021, the Prime Minister held the third meeting of the Major Disaster Management Headquarters for the heavy rains that began on July 1 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Following the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
 “Soon a full month will have passed since heavy rains began falling on July 1, 2021. The spate of heavy rains resulted in a large amount of damage in various locations, notably the mudslides in the city of Atami. I once again extend my profound condolences for those who lost their lives and my heartfelt sympathy to all those who have been affected by the disaster.
 
I visited the disaster area in the city of Atami in person. Seeing houses and roads buried under a huge amount of soil and dust made me realize the massive damage of the mudslides. I also received local requests directly.
 
Search operations for missing people are still under way, and the Government and local municipalities are working as one to make earnest efforts to proceed with the restoration of community infrastructure and the removal of waste and mud.
 
Going forward, we will go all out to provide assistance in order to accelerate the restoration of the lives and livelihoods of those affected by the disaster, based on the needs of the disaster areas.
 
Therefore, in line with our stance of doing everything we are able to do, the relevant ministries have been united as one and compiled a package of support measures today. Specifically, we will utilize public and other housing to secure emergency housing and to provide support funded by government outlays, offer small- and medium-sized enterprises assistance equivalent to that in the past Disasters of Extreme Severity in terms of the upper limits and the rate of subsidies, and increase the amount of subsidies for local tourism business support vouchers to assist the tourism industry.
 
The disaster caused by the series of heavy rains will be designated as a Disaster of Extreme Severity. With regard to the disaster recovery of farmlands and other lands, designation of hongeki (national Disaster of Extreme Severity) with no areal limitations will be made, due to significant agricultural damage across the country, including the Sanin region. Meanwhile, as for the disaster recovery of public civil engineering and other facilities, designation of kyokugeki (localized Disaster of Extreme Severity) will be made for one city and two towns in Shimane and Kagoshima prefectures, and the subsidy rate will be raised accordingly.
 
Additionally, in order to make more accurate forecasts of linear precipitation bands, which may cause tremendous damage, we will drastically expand support for research and development and other assistance and work hard to accelerate the realization of R&D plans.
 
We will remain well in tune with the disaster areas, listening to the voices of those affected by the disaster. We will maintain a high sense of speed when dealing with problems that emerge, and we will do our very utmost in working toward the recovery and reconstruction of the disaster areas.”