Community | March 13, 2011 | 4 comments

Japanese struggling to find food and water in disaster area

source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Japanese-Struggling-to-Find-Food-and-Water-in-Disaster-A...

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JanforGore
Officials with Japan's nuclear safety agency said early Sunday morning there is an emergency at another nuclear reactor at a quake-hit power plant. The agency says the cooling system at the number three reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is offline and could possibly explode, following Saturday's blast at the plant's number one reactor.

Reports quoting government officials say up to 160 people may have been exposed to radiation. Meanwhile, residents in the country's northeast are struggling to find food and clean water.

Aftershocks continued to hit northeastern Japan Sunday, several days after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting 10-meter-high tsunami devastated the coastline.

VOA Correspondent Steve Herman is near the power plant. He says locals are complaining that the authorities are not giving them accurate information about the situation fast enough. "One of the things the authorities are trying to do is not have any panic spreading among people, but information about what is happening is coming out of Tokyo not Fukushima," he said.

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Herman says that because of this, people are scrambling to find basic necessities, even in inland areas such as Fukushima. "People are just trying to find clean water. Food supplies are running out. In the convenience stores, there are no rice balls left. There is no bottled water left. We are facing a really serious situation in the days ahead for these people that are living in areas that were only moderately damaged," he said.

Overall, analysts say Japan could have fared much worse in the disaster.

Tokyo has invested billions of dollars into making the country as earthquake-proof as possible. Architects specially design high-rise buildings to flex in a quake. Tsunami warning signs and large seawalls line the Japanese coast. Even schoolchildren practice drills on what to do during an earthquake.

However in the end, analysts say that no amount of human preparedness is foolproof against the power of nature.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Sustainable Agriculture,   Earth Care,   2 more
  2. tags:
    Environment,  Food,  Japan,  Nature,  7 more
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4 comments // Japanese struggling to find food and water in disaster area

  • JanforGore
  • Psychomelody
    • +4
      Psychomelody  

    • I live in Iwate, near the epicenter. In areas that weren't hit by the tsunami and aren't around the Fukushima plants, things are turning back to normal very quickly.

      Yes, there is not much food at the stores. Yes, there is little or no gasoline left. Yes, we have rationed water.

      But we are getting through this. If I've learned anything, it's that the Japanese people are the most resilient and amazing during times of crisis.

      Keep your thoughts for the Tsunami victims and hope that we don't get any strong aftershocks. We will get through this.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • Food and especially clean water access will be severely challenged in the coming days. The fact that so many small farming communities will have vanished or been destroyed by infiltration of sea water in soil is heartbreaking. Japan spent billions to make sure buildings only sway during earthquakes, but its heart and soul is being lost. Rebuilding these farms and revitalizing soil is now crucial to their survival. As the number one importer of U.S. corn (GMO no doubt) I think this should be time as well when the emphasis should be on helping small farmers get back on their feet and not continuing to support huge corporations making money off this tragedy. My heart goes out to them and I will be keeping track of the agricultural aspect of this catastrophe.

    • 1 year ago
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