3/10/11 Hawaii Tsunami Warning

[Shonen]

thanks for posting updates and information everyone (particularly Jerry!), I haven't really been watching/reading news, and it's nice having information right here where I spend time anyway.

there's some local efforts to raise funds for Japan here in Hilo (mostly fundraiser shirts), is anything like this going on where you guys are?

[JERRY2KONE]

Well being here in Prague it is hard to tell what is going on some days. We are still waiting on our van to arrive so no vehicle to get out much. Its a 20 minute walk to the local food shopping store, but it is very quiet here for the most part. For two weeks it was sunny and nice out, but the last two days it has been wet and dreary from dawn to nightfall. In fact the kids just left for school and it is snowing right now. Anyway I have read about a few different local fund raisers from various parts of the USA, but honestly it seems pretty quiet. I also noticed that Yahool has a rescue link on its homepage that if you click on it there is a list of various organizations that you can send money to that will assit the japanese humanitarian efforts. Or so they say. Unless you donate directly to some local japanese relief effort I would not trust any of the other organizations to get the actual relief to the victoms of this disaster. There is just too much politics with these so called helping organizations. Too much Gov control and interference.

I think people are so focused on the whole nuclear disaster that no one is doing much of anything until they know for sure that this matter is going to come out on the bright side. I believe once (if) these reactors are brought under control to the point that there is no radiation leaking and it begins to wind down that people will lighten up some and then maybe we can all focus more on the recovery efforts that are going on there.

That region of Japan is going to require an awful lot of humanitarian relief just to get the people out of danager, out of starvation, dehydration, & hypothermia, and into some kind of healthy state of being. The Japanese are even more fixated on the local news waiting for some kind of good news and resolve with that nuclear site so they can rest at ease once again. The people who are still out in the affected Zones are completely cut off with no power, food, water, and sealed in their homes waiting to be told that it is safe to come out of their shelters. Everyone is terrified of what could happen if this gets much worse, because we all know what happened with Chernobyl and how deadly that kind of result can be for miles around. Some of these people already feel if this thing blows then it must be their time to go, because they have nothing left to come back to. What a horrible existance that must be for them.

Overall I have to say that the mental atmosphere in Japan is one of calm and hope for better days. Maybe they are still in shock, but when Katrina happened in the USA there was panic, looting, and rioting in the relief shelters with people demanding assistance. The people of Japan are going through a triple disaster with dignity and calmness trusting in their own spirit that they will overcome. WIth little or no food or water they sit quietly praying for a miracle. If they will die, then it will be quietly without shaming themselves or their country. No spoiled rants over what services are not being provided for them, because they feel entitled to being taken care of. You have to feel proud of them for the humility and dignity that they wear on their sleeve for everyone to see.

[pinkpanda3310]

Originally Posted by JERRY2KONE

Overall I have to say that the mental atmosphere in Japan is one of calm and hope for better days. Maybe they are still in shock, but when Katrina happened in the USA there was panic, looting, and rioting in the relief shelters with people demanding assistance. The people of Japan are going through a triple disaster with dignity and calmness trusting in their own spirit that they will overcome. WIth little or no food or water they sit quietly praying for a miracle. If they will die, then it will be quietly without shaming themselves or their country. No spoiled rants over what services are not being provided for them, because they feel entitled to being taken care of. You have to feel proud of them for the humility and dignity that they wear on their sleeve for everyone to see.

It is hard to digest such a catastrophy in a country like Japan but it is also for the reason you just stated that make's it even more heart-felt.

I arrived home yesterday and found a message written on the drive by my 8 year old (they often draw on the drive with crayon), you'll have to excuse her english as she is bi-lingual - "Be australia such a nice place to live" "Be australia such a lucky place" I just know this has derived from Misato trying to explain to them what's happening in Japan. We haven't said there cousin's and grandparents are in danger as they are not...yet, but we are certainly worried.

The Japanese culture still amazes me. As you guys have said, they don't like showing signs of weakness and such. On jp tv the local gov't of Sendai feels they are being left in the dark about the reactors and are very disolutioned.

[JERRY2KONE]

Yea it does seem that they are living with the notion that "no news is good news" for the most part. As long as they do not tell them bad news everything looks to be OK in their eyes. The problem is that we now live in such a high tech world that we rely on "up to the second" information because our technology can provide it under normal circumstances. SO when there is no NEW news we naturally fear the worst, or we believe that we are being lied to or kept in the dark. I do understand the want of the Gov not to panic its people with congecture or inuendo or guesstimations, so I get it, but I also believe in not waiting until the damm breaks before telling people to move to safer ground. In America that would be grounds for murder or man alaughter in our courts today. The Gov has to have some level of liability and responsibility to its people to tell them the truth no matter how bad it may be. Especially in a society that lives and dies by its honor. Kids are better at telling the truth than we are, and we teach them not to do this so they do not hurt anyone elses feelings. How wrong is that?

[JERRY2KONE]

I just watched one of the latest CNN reports on a local village on the northeast shores of Japan where there was once a small fishing town. A local described how the bay there suddenly began retreating to the sea leaving about a half mile of mud sand and emptiness. Then suddenly a roaring sound began to fill the air, and within a few seconds they could see the waves coming in with increasing hight as the noise got louder and louder. The people ran terrified trying to get out of the way. The village was on high ground behind very large Tsunami walls made of concrete surrounding the entire bay that reached hights of 20 feet or more and were at least two feet thick. The citizens never expecting that tsunami waves would ever reach much higher. But they did wiping out the enitre town in just a few minutes.

Since no one believed that the water would ever reach that high no one had evacuated. There is no way for a vehicle to get there now with roads destroyed, and even walking was extremely difficult for the film crew to get into the town. There is almost nothing left, and the stench of human decay fills the air. It was earily quiet. There were no footprints in the snow leaving no signs that anyone had gone there to look for survivors a week after the quake & tsunami had struck. It was a horrible site to think that this place had been left with no chance for survival, and no attempt for rescue had made it that far. A village forgotten now gone from the face of the Earth with all of its history destroyed in the ruble of whats left. The few who managed to run to higher ground in the chaos just sit sobbing waiting for help to come. It never came. No where to go in the freezing cold. No heat, no food, and no water to drink they are dying.

Sorry, I just had to share what I saw.