HUGE EARTHQUAKE TSUNAMI HITS JAPAN

[BenF]

Sneaky, you sound angered, and I don't blame you. I am very concerned about the level of truth coming through the press. The BBC here inthe UK are posting live updates every 10 minutes or so. It is worrying to read a post about reports of no increase in radiation, no risk of exposure or further damage, and the next post announcing that the French gvt are recommending all French people in the Tokyo region leave the country due to risk of further major quakes and nuclear catastrophe. Something isn't adding up here.

Sincerely, I hope things start improving for you and your family sir.

[sneaky]

do I? Nah...business as usual...BS is really thick here, especially when it comes to what the gov`t says even in the best of times and that opinion has been formed after many years in country. I am now watching NHK World, at least I`m getting Japanese news in English though I wonder how much of the truth they are reporting since they are after all in Japan, freedom of the press ain`t what it is in other countries.

[Danny]

  We have received reports of the folks we know in Japan and all are safe so far. I did send an email to a very dear gentleman "Kenichiro" (spelling?) today. I call him Ken. His wife and daughter spent time with us in our home and I truly loved this family from the first time we met. Ken can't speak English and I don't speak Japanese, but "everybody, everywhere smiles in the same language". When Ken smiled it lit up the room and you felt the warmth from his big heart.
  His daughter Mieko speaks English well and currently lives in the U.S. Ken and his wife are separated by the space between the town he lives in (near the refinery on fire) and where she is with another daughter in West Tokyo. so Ken is left alone to clean up the mess in their home. If I was younger and physically capable I truly would like to go to Japan and help Ken out, as well as others.
   We have our own set of hard circumstances in our family at this time, but my heart aches for the suffering people in Japan.
    I pray for the smiles to return soon.

[Johnny M]

I haven't heard from my wife and kids in a couple of days, so I am hoping that they are on their way down to Hiroshima.  I spoke to them early Tuesday morning and they had already felt some aftershocks northeast of Tokyo.  Even though they called them aftershocks, they felt like pretty big earthquakes to them.  Hopefully I hear some good news from them later today ...

John

[sneaky]

the fire at the refinery was in Tagajo...parts of which were hard hit other parts were not too bad...my wife has friends there and has been in touch.
so your wife and kids were in Tokyo?...they have had some quakes but nothing that the people who live there would consider scary I would guess...I have seen reports of hoarding and empty shops, most people in japan have been surprised by the damage up here in the quake and tsunamis last week so are perhaps over reacting but I can`t say I blame them...transportation in Tokyo has been affected by the rolling black outs, but people who want to leave the city seem to be able to do so, communications may be over loaded which could explain why they`re not in touch and/or they simply are in transit.
There are lots of sad stories coming out...saw a guy last night on Japanese TV say he lost his son, daughter in law, wife and 4 grandchildren...all gone...so don`t worry, I`m sure yours in Tokyo are fine...many people up north are really facing the challenge of their lives and I don`t think that is over stating it.
Latest...some busses are running between Sendai and Tokyo, some trains are running, Sendai airport has been open to cargo planes and the port is partially open so goods will be coming, probably as I type this. Saw the US military unloading 20,000 bottles of water yesterday on the news. People coming up here have to go around Fukushima now due to the reactor problems so it takes longer to get here. Wife is at work today though my classes are cancelled. If the reactors get worse we may just head south ourselves...maybe grab my brother in laws daughters and go to Okinawa or something...I need a re-entry visa to keep my current visa status if I leave Japan but no problem for Okinawa...and hey...sitting on a beach with a cold one sounds pretty dang good to me right now. We still have no gas so no hot water, I put a facecloth into the micro wave for 40 seconds and  get a hot wash that way, but I hope to get a hot shower at my father in laws tomorrow...had one Tuesday so I may be due...still no food in stores but a couple of local restaurants are open so we can get take out. We should be OK for several more days, I believe by next week things will begin to be delivered and we will be able to get back to semi-normal.

[Johnny M]

Got a call last night from my wife in Hiroshima Prefecture    They left Ibaraki on Wednesday and have been in transit, which I was hoping what they would be doing.  I think the kids are experiencing a little culture shock right now.  My boys, 8 and 5 were born in Japan but have lived here in Canada for the last 4 and a half years.  We now live on a small island with about 1,000 population.  We saw the videoclips on the news before they left and knew that plans might change and getting down to Hiroshima quickly was the card to be played.  I'm happy they are safe ... it's been a real ride.

Okinawa sounds really nice right about now!!!  I'd consider it a great time to get away from it all and see what happens.  I have no doubt the Japanese will recover from this, but with a few scars. What worries me is what is going on in Fukushima and the nuclear power plants.  Japan just raised their nuclear alert level.  There's definitely a problem to be dealt with there    I wish you and your loved ones all the best in these fuc... ah, surreal times.  I'm mainly getting the information from the news/internet, and that isn't like being on the ground and being part of the shared experience, but man, Japan has my heart at this time.

John

[BenF]

This thread has turned into something of a discussion between sneaky and John. Please, many of us are reading your comments, and our thoughts are with you. It's just hard to know what to say.

[sneaky]

thats good news...hope they will be safe and sound.
We continue to have after shocks up here, was warm for the last couple of days but cooling off for the next couple...folks up north will be feeling it for sure. We were not able to see the family this week end, they don`t have enough gas to get to their grandpa`s place, but I`m sure they have food and electricity, probably itching to get out though. I heard some shops opened yesterday...my wife`s company has them working 2 days on 1 day off so folks can get out to try and buy food so she`s not working tomorrow...we will go out and see whats available...so for us it`s food now, we have some, enough for several days at least plus we have running water and so far have not been hit by rolling blackouts, which has surprised me. Still concerned about the reactor situation but news today seems to say not getting worse...not much better but not worse however hard to say how much they are really telling everyone.
So for new we hang in, not much to do but wait...we have hot food and a warm-ish place so can`t really complaint, after some of the images and footage we`ve seen over the past week, we are much better off than many.

[Danny]

   We have heard more regarding our friends in Japan. Not all is so great, some were in Sendia and other hard hit areas. If you go online to the 60 minutes report on March 20th, the young man named "David" that is interviewed is someone we spent time with and was part of the church here in Austin while he was at U.T. It is a an amazing and a sad story at the same time. He was a teacher at an elementary school which was hit by the Tsunami when the Gym was full of people.

[Yusuf_Mohammed]

God with the people and our friends in Japan. I hope for them to be well. And the earthquakes stop to complete their life. These people really are very professional. They saved their things with their souls. During the earthquake, i saw a girl in her work, she tries to save the computers and the paper of her work instead of get out of the building.

Really Chapeau for them  

Dashquid
fatlossprofessional.co.uk
fatlossprofessional
mobilehelper
securetrip
whichpetcover
google
abc
facebook
craigslist

[Johnny M]

My wife and kids will be coming back on Monday ~ after spending 7 weeks there.  They mainly spent their time down in Hiroshima Prefecture where things were pretty much normal.  They headed back up to the kanto region this past week and haven't heard very much from them.  Although it's not in the news as much these days, I'm still worried about the radiation.  They moved the exclusion zone to 30kms from the nuclear power plant and the last I heard levels were still too high for the workers to get in the  plant safely.  They were using robots.  It's on the same level as Chernobyl!!!

I'll be happy when they arrive on Monday 


John