itself left a notable scar on the eastern side of the summit, and the pyroclastic flow and surge resulted in much damage in the Kamikoba district. Kita-Kamikoba was almost completely destroyed. Around 170 houses were devastated, many of them set alight by the intense heat of the ash. Pictures have shown that the pyroclastic flow left significant deposits near the mouth of the Mizunashi River Valley, enough to bury houses and the river itself. In contrast, the surge that detached from the flow left deposits of ash between 3 and 30 cm thick, however trees were flattened and many buildings continued burning until the next morning. The force of the surge was enough to push a car 80 m down-road. Many of the casualties of the June 3 eruption could have been avoided if the danger of pyroclastic flows had been made more apparent beforehand. While the first pyroclastic flow on May 24 was shocking, many did not understand just how lethal such events could become. A reporter stated at the time: "I knew they were quite hot, but didn't know they could be accompanied by (pyroclastic surges). I thought we could escape by car, but I didn't know the extent at which it burned." Twenty-five days after the event, the Japan Meteorological Agency revealed that while the first dome collapse was reported, much of the mass media and local residents were in a state of confusion about the danger of pyroclastic flows, and were not particularly concerned about them overall. The media originally reported that the pyroclastic flows seen on Fugen-dake at the time were "geologically small", which many regarded as "a scale that would cause no human fatalities". On May 26, a construction worker operating a Sabo dam in the upstream area of the Mizunashi River was caught in a pyroclastic flow; he survived but was sent to hospital with burns on his arms. Many thought that such burns could be prevented by wearing a long-sleeved shirt. The danger of the phenomena was not made clear. Furthermore, the number of pyroclastic flows from May 25 to June 2 had increased to 165, and all had stopped near the Sabo dam in the upper reaches of the valley. As a result, much of the media grew accustomed to the eruptions and no longer felt like they were in any danger. Shimabara City issued an evacuation advisory for the villages