Group lending cars for free to disaster victims struggles to meet demand

A nonprofit organization is lending out cars for free one month after torrential rain killed 13 people in Chiba Prefecture and left more than 10,000 vehicles with water damage due to flooded roads. Some 3,100 of the cars were stranded and temporarily abandoned on the streets in August. To support those who lose their means of transportation in a natural disaster, the Japan Car Sharing Association, a nonprofit organization based in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, has been lending cars for free since 2011 to those in disaster-hit areas.