It was three months after a dozen people were killed last July in mudslides triggered heavy rains in the town of Kumano, Hiroshima Prefecture, that five local residents formed a group aimed at reconstructing the area.
The five didn't really know each other before the mudslides swallowed up the area, dubbed Ohara Heights, damaging 41 houses and forcing residents to evacuate. But they shared a sense of crisis — that they couldn't get the information they needed. They also felt compelled to unite in order to better convey the opinions of local residents to the municipality officials spearheading the reconstruction effort. The group's effort gradually paid off, gaining it trust and support from local residents as well as from the municipality.
A year after the disaster, the group's story exemplifies the challenges residents of Ohara Heights faced in trying to pick up the pieces of lives destroyed by the disaster.