Japan News 3/16
Mar. 16th, 2011 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarker3/15
More bits from the news.
A video of rescuers picking up a 60 year old man. He's wearing a helmet, sitting cross-legged, with a stick in one hand, handmade flag waving overhead. He's sitting on a flat rooftop, floating in the middle of water and floating debris. He'd apparently been floating for 44 hours when they found him. Huddled in the rescue boat under a blanket, drinking water, he doesn't talk.
2 teenagers being taken off a yacht. They are the only people on it, and it is just drifting. They said they were in a building, saw the yacht going by, and jumped into it. They said the yacht rolled a lot in the waves, and it was cold. But they seem cheerful.
A young couple walking in the debris, pointing out where the kindergarten near their house was, and where their child was. They haven't found the teacher or any of the children.
The effort continues to connect people with family and friends. The centers have rooms with walls full of lists of names, messages, and people poring over them hoping and fearing. Others have tables with volunteers and lists. There's a short clip of one woman giving a name to the volunteer, then looking at list, finger on names, and she freezes for a moment. "That's it." Her wrinkled face suddenly gets a ghostly smile. She nods to the volunteer, and says, "They're here. Thank you."
There are also people with hand-written signs, being shown one at a time on TV for a few words. Lines of people, signs mostly saying "I/we are alive. Please get in touch." Most of the lines have kids, with signs. Those are heartbreaking, even when the sign says, "Mama and I are alive. Papa, where are you?" There are reports that following each of these TV calls for contact, there are bursts of telephone calls and other contacts from family and friends, so they are apparently effective.
Many of the local reporters have hand-made maps.
There's an 83 year old woman who apparently became somewhat well-known for going around doing kami shibai (paper pictures with a narration) and a song, all about how to deal with earthquake and tsunami. Last year, they did a documentary of her and her work in that part of Japan. And the reporters found her, at her home in an elevated location.
People at a center, going through piles of clothing brought by the relief people. Almost like women at a sale, shaking out a coat, then laying it back down, holding other clothes in one arm, and finally walking away with a few selected pieces.
The mayor of a small town, who explains that his town had 10,800 people, and he only knows where 800 of them are. He thinks the rest are probably dead. The town is flattened. The news guy asks what he's going to do now. The mayor tilts his head, grabs his nose between thumb and forefinger, and blinks several times. "What do we do next? Ganbarre." That's fight on.
At our local supermarket (Nara, Kansai area, well south of everything), the shelves of rice and bottled water are sold out. Apparently there are rumors of shortages, so people are hoarding.
Somebody is listening. On one of the channels, the reporter at the center had a map and carefully told us where each place was and pointed to it before the next report. Very helpful!
10:30 PM magnitude 6.4 earthquake near Tokyo. This one shook us more than any of the earlier quakes. 3/16 morning -- they're explaining that this was an earthquake on a different plate boundary -- the Philippine plate joint with the plate under Northern Japan. At this point they believe the quake is connected, probably due to stress relief related to the other one. When the experts are asked about whether there will be others in the area, they just say they don't know.
3/16
Reports of hospitals running short of supplies, with uncertainty about when they will get more. That TV report included a picture of a doctor walking up to a sink and turning the handle. No water came out. He shook his head and walked away. Given the training that doctors get on washing, I'm sure not being able to wash is problematic for them.
Talking about shortages -- at one of the centers the reporter said they had six portable toilets brought in, but three have broken down. So they only have three working.
One of the reports this morning was about the layer of a half-inch or so of wet snow that laid over that area over night. The reporter pointed to the rolling hills of debris on one side, softened by the white blanket. Then the hospital and refugee center on the other side, where he said people are wearing two and three blankets to try to stay warm. The home center down the road gave people 10 liters of heating oil each yesterday. And on the hills behind what remains of the town, the forests are smoking. There's been forest fire up there.
We did see someone with a LA Fire Rescue helmet. He said, "Our hearts go out to the Japanese."
Amen to that.
More bits from the news.
A video of rescuers picking up a 60 year old man. He's wearing a helmet, sitting cross-legged, with a stick in one hand, handmade flag waving overhead. He's sitting on a flat rooftop, floating in the middle of water and floating debris. He'd apparently been floating for 44 hours when they found him. Huddled in the rescue boat under a blanket, drinking water, he doesn't talk.
2 teenagers being taken off a yacht. They are the only people on it, and it is just drifting. They said they were in a building, saw the yacht going by, and jumped into it. They said the yacht rolled a lot in the waves, and it was cold. But they seem cheerful.
A young couple walking in the debris, pointing out where the kindergarten near their house was, and where their child was. They haven't found the teacher or any of the children.
The effort continues to connect people with family and friends. The centers have rooms with walls full of lists of names, messages, and people poring over them hoping and fearing. Others have tables with volunteers and lists. There's a short clip of one woman giving a name to the volunteer, then looking at list, finger on names, and she freezes for a moment. "That's it." Her wrinkled face suddenly gets a ghostly smile. She nods to the volunteer, and says, "They're here. Thank you."
There are also people with hand-written signs, being shown one at a time on TV for a few words. Lines of people, signs mostly saying "I/we are alive. Please get in touch." Most of the lines have kids, with signs. Those are heartbreaking, even when the sign says, "Mama and I are alive. Papa, where are you?" There are reports that following each of these TV calls for contact, there are bursts of telephone calls and other contacts from family and friends, so they are apparently effective.
Many of the local reporters have hand-made maps.
There's an 83 year old woman who apparently became somewhat well-known for going around doing kami shibai (paper pictures with a narration) and a song, all about how to deal with earthquake and tsunami. Last year, they did a documentary of her and her work in that part of Japan. And the reporters found her, at her home in an elevated location.
People at a center, going through piles of clothing brought by the relief people. Almost like women at a sale, shaking out a coat, then laying it back down, holding other clothes in one arm, and finally walking away with a few selected pieces.
The mayor of a small town, who explains that his town had 10,800 people, and he only knows where 800 of them are. He thinks the rest are probably dead. The town is flattened. The news guy asks what he's going to do now. The mayor tilts his head, grabs his nose between thumb and forefinger, and blinks several times. "What do we do next? Ganbarre." That's fight on.
At our local supermarket (Nara, Kansai area, well south of everything), the shelves of rice and bottled water are sold out. Apparently there are rumors of shortages, so people are hoarding.
Somebody is listening. On one of the channels, the reporter at the center had a map and carefully told us where each place was and pointed to it before the next report. Very helpful!
10:30 PM magnitude 6.4 earthquake near Tokyo. This one shook us more than any of the earlier quakes. 3/16 morning -- they're explaining that this was an earthquake on a different plate boundary -- the Philippine plate joint with the plate under Northern Japan. At this point they believe the quake is connected, probably due to stress relief related to the other one. When the experts are asked about whether there will be others in the area, they just say they don't know.
3/16
Reports of hospitals running short of supplies, with uncertainty about when they will get more. That TV report included a picture of a doctor walking up to a sink and turning the handle. No water came out. He shook his head and walked away. Given the training that doctors get on washing, I'm sure not being able to wash is problematic for them.
Talking about shortages -- at one of the centers the reporter said they had six portable toilets brought in, but three have broken down. So they only have three working.
One of the reports this morning was about the layer of a half-inch or so of wet snow that laid over that area over night. The reporter pointed to the rolling hills of debris on one side, softened by the white blanket. Then the hospital and refugee center on the other side, where he said people are wearing two and three blankets to try to stay warm. The home center down the road gave people 10 liters of heating oil each yesterday. And on the hills behind what remains of the town, the forests are smoking. There's been forest fire up there.
We did see someone with a LA Fire Rescue helmet. He said, "Our hearts go out to the Japanese."
Amen to that.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 03:34 am (UTC)These snippets that you are giving us are so helpful. Here, the news vascillates from "oh, how horrible" to "how does this affect the U.S." Home today waiting for a repairman and watching CNN, it was all escalating fears about the reactors and a stream of experts reassuring people that California wasn't at risk from radiation. It seems so self-centered to be worrying about small risk stuff when people need food and medicine.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-16 07:15 am (UTC)