Hollister’s sister city was hit last week by a typhoon that
locals are calling one of the worst in the area’s history.
Takino, Japan – Hollister’s sister city was hit last week by a typhoon that locals are calling one of the worst in the area’s history.
In addition to being Hollister’s sister city, Takino is also currently home to Nichole Anglin, a Hollister resident who has been in Japan since August. Anglin is spending a year in Takino as the assistant English teacher for the town’s junior high school district.
“Everyone I talked to is fine, except for some property damage. No one was hurt,” Anglin said in an e-mail Wednesday.
Anglin said she had heard last week’s typhoon, named Tokage, was one of the worst ever to hit Takino.
Yuko Kinugasa, the coordinator of the Takino/Hollister sister city program, also wrote via e-mail that while the extent of Takino’s property damage was great, she hasn’t heard of any local injuries or deaths.
“The very heavy rain and strong wind caused many roads and bridges (to) close and the Kakogawa (river) overflowed…. Quite a few houses were flooded up to the floorboards. But fortunately, no one got hurt,” Kinugasa wrote.
She explained the scene further in her e-mail, “All the town hall employees stayed until midnight and men piled up sandbags on the riverbank or helped people (to refuge)…. This was the worst damage that Takino had experienced. Today men are running around to clean the flooded roads and bridges and to check the places of damages,” Kinugasa said.
By Saturday, typhoon Tokage’s death-toll across the country had reached 80, and 12 people were still missing, according to Japan Today
Ruth Erickson, head of the Northern California chapter of Sister Cities International, said it is times like this that drive home the importance of having a sister city.
“In 1989, we had just become sister cities (with Takino) and we had a big earthquake. They were so worried about us that they actually sent equipment. Whenever there’s an earthquake or a typhoon or anything like that, it’s like having a family in whatever country your sister city is in. You become not just friends, but every time you visit each other’s countries you become like family. You really care for each other,” Erickson said.
