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Location:春日部市、埼玉県
Showing posts with label survival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label survival. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Jears articles
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Searching for animals.
Currently reporting from the road back to Niigata.
It has been a long day of mostly driving. The stamina of the crew is inspiring and I am lucky to be sharing this experience.
Today we managed to leave late after various dramas, so despite my good efforts to get up early, which I did, they hadn't been necessary.
We hit the road, again, and again and again. It was a long road. We drove from the countryside plains of Niigata with it's snowy mountains and endless rice fields, to, courtesy of many long, dark tunnels, the clearer area of Fukushima, where mountains were only visible in yonder distance.
Throughout the day, it was our mission to constantly be on the look out for animals, even if we were just making a pit stop at a conbeeny, we could still use the opportunity to talk with locals and let them know about our work.
A photographer told us how, yesterday, he went into 'the zone' and there are so many dogs and cats just roaming around all by themselves.
((the zone, in case you are not aware is the area within 10 to 30 km of the nuclear plant. Only 10pm is mandatory and the rest, voluntary, but owners of pets left thinking they could return within a few days. Sadly, this is not so.))
We also met a lovely couple who had the most beautiful Labrador. We stopped and had a chat. She told us of a dog she had seen dead just up the road and took our details in case she found any that needed rescuing. It is this word of mouth that works well and it is amazing to see the support for the organisation.
We saw the coastline that had been affected from Soma, Fukushima, where it began, up as far as Yamamoto in south Miyagi. The destruction really is unreal. What we see on the news is awful, yet, seeing it in real life, still does not help comprehend what happened here. We had to swerve to dodge a big boat that had been forced form the bay over to the opposite side of the road. Gradually, the more houses we passed, the bigger the trail of destruction became.
Three weeks on, and people have started to move the debris and pile it up outside their houses. Everything on the first level was a destroyed. I watched as a family removed everything from their fish shop, from dead fish and crabs, to shop fittings and possessions, all saturated and muddy, nothing could be salvaged.
After ten minutes or so, north from Soma, the destruction spread even further inland. Very little remained of what was once a quiet little town on the coast.
Cars were smashed, wrangled and there were many scattered in the distant rice fields, which were still damp and muddy. The first floors of most houses were obliterated and those houses that were still standing with both floors, had windows smashed and curtains blowing in the wind to remind us of a family who once dwelled there, closing them to keep quiet and warm indoors. All that remained of other houses was the second floor alone. The tsunami came and swept away the base of the house leaving just the upper level. This was all that sat in the rice field.
The view was the same the whole road through, destruction, piles of debris, damaged cars, one was wrapped around a lamp post. But, the worst and saddest thing I saw today, was a little pink baby jump suit amongst the pile of debris outside a house where a wall was missing and the bathroom was on show.
As we drove along, we scoured the roads and debris for nay signs of canine of feline life. Of course, there was none. Not here, anyway. The coast was within eyesight and I could see blue calm waters, but before that lay mud, fallen trees and mess, all a sign that the water was, 3 weeks ago, was anything but calm.
We did hear dogs barking and feared that they may have been abandoned. We drove into the house and met the owners coming back from their food shopping trip. We explained to them our purpose. We offered them food, which they accepted graciously as it is scarce on these areas.
We have been o the road for 12 hours and we are not yet home. Maybe we have another hour or two on this windy, wet and, save for one truck ahead, empty road back to Niigata.
Big thanks go to
www.jears.org working with www.kinshipcircle.org (from America). they are working ever so hard to save all these animals and, when possible, reunite them with their owners.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
It has been a long day of mostly driving. The stamina of the crew is inspiring and I am lucky to be sharing this experience.
Today we managed to leave late after various dramas, so despite my good efforts to get up early, which I did, they hadn't been necessary.
We hit the road, again, and again and again. It was a long road. We drove from the countryside plains of Niigata with it's snowy mountains and endless rice fields, to, courtesy of many long, dark tunnels, the clearer area of Fukushima, where mountains were only visible in yonder distance.
Throughout the day, it was our mission to constantly be on the look out for animals, even if we were just making a pit stop at a conbeeny, we could still use the opportunity to talk with locals and let them know about our work.
A photographer told us how, yesterday, he went into 'the zone' and there are so many dogs and cats just roaming around all by themselves.
((the zone, in case you are not aware is the area within 10 to 30 km of the nuclear plant. Only 10pm is mandatory and the rest, voluntary, but owners of pets left thinking they could return within a few days. Sadly, this is not so.))
We also met a lovely couple who had the most beautiful Labrador. We stopped and had a chat. She told us of a dog she had seen dead just up the road and took our details in case she found any that needed rescuing. It is this word of mouth that works well and it is amazing to see the support for the organisation.
We saw the coastline that had been affected from Soma, Fukushima, where it began, up as far as Yamamoto in south Miyagi. The destruction really is unreal. What we see on the news is awful, yet, seeing it in real life, still does not help comprehend what happened here. We had to swerve to dodge a big boat that had been forced form the bay over to the opposite side of the road. Gradually, the more houses we passed, the bigger the trail of destruction became.
Three weeks on, and people have started to move the debris and pile it up outside their houses. Everything on the first level was a destroyed. I watched as a family removed everything from their fish shop, from dead fish and crabs, to shop fittings and possessions, all saturated and muddy, nothing could be salvaged.
After ten minutes or so, north from Soma, the destruction spread even further inland. Very little remained of what was once a quiet little town on the coast.
Cars were smashed, wrangled and there were many scattered in the distant rice fields, which were still damp and muddy. The first floors of most houses were obliterated and those houses that were still standing with both floors, had windows smashed and curtains blowing in the wind to remind us of a family who once dwelled there, closing them to keep quiet and warm indoors. All that remained of other houses was the second floor alone. The tsunami came and swept away the base of the house leaving just the upper level. This was all that sat in the rice field.
The view was the same the whole road through, destruction, piles of debris, damaged cars, one was wrapped around a lamp post. But, the worst and saddest thing I saw today, was a little pink baby jump suit amongst the pile of debris outside a house where a wall was missing and the bathroom was on show.
As we drove along, we scoured the roads and debris for nay signs of canine of feline life. Of course, there was none. Not here, anyway. The coast was within eyesight and I could see blue calm waters, but before that lay mud, fallen trees and mess, all a sign that the water was, 3 weeks ago, was anything but calm.
We did hear dogs barking and feared that they may have been abandoned. We drove into the house and met the owners coming back from their food shopping trip. We explained to them our purpose. We offered them food, which they accepted graciously as it is scarce on these areas.
We have been o the road for 12 hours and we are not yet home. Maybe we have another hour or two on this windy, wet and, save for one truck ahead, empty road back to Niigata.
Big thanks go to
www.jears.org working with www.kinshipcircle.org (from America). they are working ever so hard to save all these animals and, when possible, reunite them with their owners.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
3/11
The floor pounds,
Smashing sounds,
One big thud.
Hit the floor hard.
Bruises, shock and pain.
Sirens blare,
People stare.
Disbelief and fear.
One big wave.
Early grave.
Doesn't stop.
Fills the shops,
Forces cars away.
Run, fast run.
Water comes.
Heart beats racing,
Wave still chasing.
Find the highest place.
Crack and crumble.
House is rubble.
Nothing here
But screams and fear.
Lost my wife,
Lost my daughter.
Where is my son?
Pray they are safe,
Pray they are alive.
Pray they knew to run.
Cities gone.
Heartbreak is long.
Never ending pain.
Big shakes rock.
Big waves shock.
Death and despair.
Water won't stop.
Temperature drops.
Cold, alone and scared.
© Leonora Sophie
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
People power....Peer pressure....
Firstly, hats off to all the workers, anyone involved with the Fukushima plant.
Amidst all the heavy criticism, the doubts, the fears, they have battled non-stop to rectify a very bad situation. At no point did they think, 'I've got to get out of here', 'What if there is a nuclear fallout?', 'I can't be bothered with all this'...
No, they have pushed through, and today we finally have some good news that they are regaining control of the reactors at the plant.
THANK YOU!!!!!
I have just read this updated article from the foreign office....
http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=569052582
It basically reiterates what Beddington had said before. This guy knows his stuff, and even after repeated, precautionary, but nonetheless, annoying questions, he states that we ARE FINE!
The worse case is a cloud floating over us over 2 days, and that is ultimately a worst case involving southern blowing gale winds.
Sure the news is negative, but whose media is this? CNN have jumped on the fear bandwagon already. Spinach and milk has been found to be 'contaminated'. This is from Fukushima, right by the plant, and reports should not be blown out of proportion.
It is media like this that is giving me and all my friends a headache.
It is media like this that has driven us out of our home.
We are constantly having to fend off relatives and friends and fight for the country in which we live. One person in particular is making my life unmanageable. When people believe what they read and then relay this information as 100% fact, it is hard to contend with. When someone doubts you, it shows a lack of respect, not just for you, but for your friends, family, and the life that you lead.
We have been dealing with such things since last week, and we are exhausted.
Ironically enough, the BBC now pipe in with a report about the tsunami, saying that, one week on, it is the tsunami that is important. WE KNOW!!!!
People are suffering from lack of supplies. People are cold. We need to really help those in the north, but instead the media wants to drag Japan down into a cesspit of filth and lies.
I heard a very sad story today. They need diapers desperately. We sent some boxes up today, but stupidly no diapers.
If you are reading this and are in Japan, please send more to Second Harvest. I posted the link in another post. The address is in Tokyo and can be done with regular post.
Here is the story I heard from my friend....
・ I need to change my daughter's diaper, but there is any diaper left.
・ We evacuated to the shelter. We have a baby crying in the night, it seems to make people annoyed. We are at a loss.
"・ I am looking for my wife every day, but she is still missing. I have nothing to confirm her safe...
・ Gasoline has run out. We can't go to our uncle's funeral.
・ Our family was ok, but our house, money, everything were washed away by tsunami. We have no hope in the future.
・ Water is still cut off in the shelter. Sanitary condition is getting worse day by day. An increasing number of evacuees sufeer from a wide range of physical irregularities."
We need to focus on helping. Hopefully, we will be able to follow this man more. Prayers and love to his family. I hope he can at least say good bye to his uncle.
After all this ranting, I want to end on a heartwarming note; animals reunited with their owners...
http://www.ctv.ca/gallery/html/japan-quake-dogs-pets-victims-110318/index_.html
God bless them all xxxxxxxxxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Amidst all the heavy criticism, the doubts, the fears, they have battled non-stop to rectify a very bad situation. At no point did they think, 'I've got to get out of here', 'What if there is a nuclear fallout?', 'I can't be bothered with all this'...
No, they have pushed through, and today we finally have some good news that they are regaining control of the reactors at the plant.
THANK YOU!!!!!
I have just read this updated article from the foreign office....
http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=569052582
It basically reiterates what Beddington had said before. This guy knows his stuff, and even after repeated, precautionary, but nonetheless, annoying questions, he states that we ARE FINE!
The worse case is a cloud floating over us over 2 days, and that is ultimately a worst case involving southern blowing gale winds.
Sure the news is negative, but whose media is this? CNN have jumped on the fear bandwagon already. Spinach and milk has been found to be 'contaminated'. This is from Fukushima, right by the plant, and reports should not be blown out of proportion.
It is media like this that is giving me and all my friends a headache.
It is media like this that has driven us out of our home.
We are constantly having to fend off relatives and friends and fight for the country in which we live. One person in particular is making my life unmanageable. When people believe what they read and then relay this information as 100% fact, it is hard to contend with. When someone doubts you, it shows a lack of respect, not just for you, but for your friends, family, and the life that you lead.
We have been dealing with such things since last week, and we are exhausted.
Ironically enough, the BBC now pipe in with a report about the tsunami, saying that, one week on, it is the tsunami that is important. WE KNOW!!!!
People are suffering from lack of supplies. People are cold. We need to really help those in the north, but instead the media wants to drag Japan down into a cesspit of filth and lies.
I heard a very sad story today. They need diapers desperately. We sent some boxes up today, but stupidly no diapers.
If you are reading this and are in Japan, please send more to Second Harvest. I posted the link in another post. The address is in Tokyo and can be done with regular post.
Here is the story I heard from my friend....
・ I need to change my daughter's diaper, but there is any diaper left.
・ We evacuated to the shelter. We have a baby crying in the night, it seems to make people annoyed. We are at a loss.
"・ I am looking for my wife every day, but she is still missing. I have nothing to confirm her safe...
・ Gasoline has run out. We can't go to our uncle's funeral.
・ Our family was ok, but our house, money, everything were washed away by tsunami. We have no hope in the future.
・ Water is still cut off in the shelter. Sanitary condition is getting worse day by day. An increasing number of evacuees sufeer from a wide range of physical irregularities."
We need to focus on helping. Hopefully, we will be able to follow this man more. Prayers and love to his family. I hope he can at least say good bye to his uncle.
After all this ranting, I want to end on a heartwarming note; animals reunited with their owners...
http://www.ctv.ca/gallery/html/japan-quake-dogs-pets-victims-110318/index_.html
God bless them all xxxxxxxxxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gift City, Gifu, Japan.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sad Story
As snow falls, a tearful vigil for wife, mom
Hiroshi Sakamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
ONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--"Mom, Hiroko, you must be freezing. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," said Yoshikatsu Hiratsuka, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Hiratsuka, 66, was staring at the bodies of his mother and wife in the earthquake-ravaged town of Onagawacho on Thursday morning. Snow gently drifted down covering the bodies in a white mantle.
Although seven days have passed since the earthquake and tsunami, the bodies still have not been recovered.
Hiratsuka visits the site every day from his evacuation center to pray for his loved ones. There is nothing else he can do.
When the massive quake hit the town in the afternoon last Friday, Hiratsuka was at the home of a neighborhood acquaintance.
Rushing home, he found his 93-year-old mother, Minori, sitting on a chair on the road in front of their house.
His sister, who lived nearby, had rescued Minori, who had trouble walking, and his wife, Hiroko, 61, was helping out.
But while he was wondering how to evacuate the area, the tsunami hit.
In a moment, Hiratsuka found himself floundering about 10 meters away. Though he had a tight hold on Minori's arm, the two soon found water swirling around their chests and they were trapped in the rubble.
"It hurts, it hurts," Minori groaned, according to Hiratsuka. She died not long afterward.
"Mom, I'm so sorry," Hiratsuka said.
After managing to extricate himself from the rubble, Hiratsuka reluctantly left the site and headed for the municipal hospital. By that time, he had lost sight of his wife.
When he returned the following day, he found Hiroko's body under rubble. He sawed through the wood pinning her down, pulled her out and laid her body on the ground. He then covered her with a blanket.
Though he could see Minori's body under the rubble, he could not pull her out.
When he asked local government officials to recover the bodies, they turned him down, citing a manpower shortage.
Hiratsuka walks 15 minutes every morning from the town's gymnasium, where he is being sheltered, to the site where his loved ones are to offer prayers.
"You must be freezing. I'm so sorry I'm still unable to help you. Today marks the seventh day after your deaths," he said at the site.
He has yet to find his 38-year-old son, Masaru, who lived with them.
(Mar. 18, 2011)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Hiroshi Sakamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
ONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--"Mom, Hiroko, you must be freezing. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," said Yoshikatsu Hiratsuka, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Hiratsuka, 66, was staring at the bodies of his mother and wife in the earthquake-ravaged town of Onagawacho on Thursday morning. Snow gently drifted down covering the bodies in a white mantle.
Although seven days have passed since the earthquake and tsunami, the bodies still have not been recovered.
Hiratsuka visits the site every day from his evacuation center to pray for his loved ones. There is nothing else he can do.
When the massive quake hit the town in the afternoon last Friday, Hiratsuka was at the home of a neighborhood acquaintance.
Rushing home, he found his 93-year-old mother, Minori, sitting on a chair on the road in front of their house.
His sister, who lived nearby, had rescued Minori, who had trouble walking, and his wife, Hiroko, 61, was helping out.
But while he was wondering how to evacuate the area, the tsunami hit.
In a moment, Hiratsuka found himself floundering about 10 meters away. Though he had a tight hold on Minori's arm, the two soon found water swirling around their chests and they were trapped in the rubble.
"It hurts, it hurts," Minori groaned, according to Hiratsuka. She died not long afterward.
"Mom, I'm so sorry," Hiratsuka said.
After managing to extricate himself from the rubble, Hiratsuka reluctantly left the site and headed for the municipal hospital. By that time, he had lost sight of his wife.
When he returned the following day, he found Hiroko's body under rubble. He sawed through the wood pinning her down, pulled her out and laid her body on the ground. He then covered her with a blanket.
Though he could see Minori's body under the rubble, he could not pull her out.
When he asked local government officials to recover the bodies, they turned him down, citing a manpower shortage.
Hiratsuka walks 15 minutes every morning from the town's gymnasium, where he is being sheltered, to the site where his loved ones are to offer prayers.
"You must be freezing. I'm so sorry I'm still unable to help you. Today marks the seventh day after your deaths," he said at the site.
He has yet to find his 38-year-old son, Masaru, who lived with them.
(Mar. 18, 2011)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Reporter's story
DY reporter's story..
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110315004752.htm
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110315004752.htm
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:１丁目,Nagoya,Japan
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Survival Story....
My friend's friend...
'on the 11th, her brother lost everything including his car because of the tsunami. after the disaster he happened to find a bottle of honey somewhere roadside and survived for 2 days with it.
2 days later he got to his parents' house and met his parents again finally.'
God bless him xxxxxxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
'on the 11th, her brother lost everything including his car because of the tsunami. after the disaster he happened to find a bottle of honey somewhere roadside and survived for 2 days with it.
2 days later he got to his parents' house and met his parents again finally.'
God bless him xxxxxxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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