Sharjah24 – AFP: The Japanese town of Taro had sea walls that were supposed to be able to survive almost anything the ocean could offer up, but the 2011 tsunami still brought utter destruction.
A decade after the deadly waves unleashed by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history, the lesson learned in many coastal towns was: build higher.
That has left a legacy cast in concrete along hundreds of kilometres of Japan's northeastern coast -- with a few notable exceptions where communities have rejected the imposing barriers.
Before 2011, people in Taro assumed their walls would withstand just about everything.
"Taro had built a perfect town to prevent disaster," 63-year-old local tour guide Kumiko Motoda told AFP.
The town adopted sea walls as early as 1934, after being engulfed by huge tsunamis in 1896 and 1933.
Its 10-metre high barriers, running 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) in total, were known collectively as "The Great Wall" and came with 44 tsunami evacuation routes, equipped with solar panels to keep the lights on.
Roads were designed with clear views for evacuees, and residents were supposed to be able to get to safety in less than 10 minutes, Motoda explained.
But the 16-metre wave that arrived on March 11 made quick work of those best-laid plans, streaming over the walls and partially destroying them as it carried away homes and cars.
Across Taro, 140 residents were killed and 41 remain missing.
After the disaster, Japan's government asked coastal regions in the area to consider constructing or rebuilding protective walls, eventually setting aside 1.3 trillion yen ($12 billion) in funds.
In all, 430 kilometres of non-contiguous barriers will be built, with construction around 80 percent complete.
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