I am sure that all of you have already seen news footage of the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami. I am very lucky to have gotten by with just the quakes. Here in Yokohama tremors continue and just a minute ago a RS 3 quake was registered in Nagano Prefecture. Hopefully they will get the damaged nuclear plants under control.
For those of us here in Tokyo and Yokohama, the biggest effect has been the blackouts. I am pretty sure everyone was surprised with the rippling effect it had on their daily lives.
1. Trains stopped running or on drastically reduced operations which resulted in people not getting to work.
2. Offices and stores reduced operations due to lack of employees.
3. Resupply of stores continue to be hampered and essential goods are basically gone from the shelves.
4. Patients requiring hemo dialysis and or rely on life lines that depend on electricity. Fortunately blackouts are for a three hour duration.
Another problem arising is the overload of cell phone traffic. Docomo and Soft Bank just announced some measures that need to be taken.
Emergency supplies are not reaching the devastated areas as hoped for with many of the roads blocked with debris.
It is kind of unreal as life goes on here in Yokohama while people are fighting for survival up north with not even having the bare essentials.
I wonder how Hawaii will survive a real tsunami. I could not help but feel anger when I read a thread calling on having a "We survived the tsunami" party when it never materialized. I recall seeing folks gather up on the mountain side to "watch" a tsunami come on only a year or two back. They need to fully understand that it is no laughing matter.
Oh well, see what today brings. Not much I can do for now. I'll be checking on relief volunteer activity and see if there is something I can do.
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