Japan Tsunami

Over the carnival break, word of a major disaster in Japan completely overwhelmed news stations worldwide. A 9.0 earthquake: 1000 times stronger than the one that hit Haiti, preceded a devastating tsunami which wiped out thousands of homes.

Refugees in copious amounts fled to nearby towns and cities in hopes to be taken in by the locals, and possibly housed and fed. The Japanese, adept in search and rescue after many years of practice, have already deployed teams from all over their nation to assist in the rescue efforts in the north. The Japanese- a proud people- have only asked for a specific amount of international help.

Everyone who is a part of the effort knows, however, that there will be many more bodies than survivors. With all the mud and debris it makes it very hard for their fastidious search dogs to differentiate the smell of a human and of a corpse. Bodies are being dug out under 1.5 meters worth of mud, so it is very unlikely that there will be many survivors.

And yet still the situation only gets worse; with power outages nationwide; refugees pouring in at all fronts; and now one of their nuclear power plants coolers decelerating and malfunctioning, all of this could lead to a very catastrophic second disaster. It's crucial that nuclear experts contain the radioactive fuel rods before the reactor melts down and explodes, a radioactive leakage could effect many people nationwide. With the roof blown off the reactors from explosions audible miles and miles away from the plant, the situation get's ever more worrying, especially since the many teams already attempting to grapple exactly what they need to do and nothing being done to help. This could turn out to be another Chernobyl.

Although help from Tokyo facilitates the recovery of the refugees, and capacious offices are being offered to roof many of them off, they will have many nights of fitful, worried sleep.