03-17-2011, 05:01 AM
Drew is in Osaka, Japan we have communicated several times... I have asked if they need anything..... We may want to ask again....?
From: Drew
To: haikuman
03/14/2011 08:46PM
Hi Rudie. In our area (Osaka/Kobe), no problems whatsoever. Tokyo is a mess, mainly because of the rolling blackouts. Lack of power has really affected the trains and subways, which the vast majority of people up there use for daily transportation. I've also heard of sporadic shortages of food and water up there, probably because of hoarding and transportation issues. As for the nuke plants, who knows. The facts are very hard to come by. I think that half of the reason is that the government wants to be very careful about creating panic and the other half is because no one really knows. I suppose that the weather will be a big factor in effects from leakage. Down here, I don't think that we have much to worry about, but Tokyo is not that far away. I think that if there is wind blowing in the direction of Tokyo followed by rain, then it could be a problem. Pure speculation from a non-expert there.
It's still very difficult for rescue teams to get into the hardest hit areas. The military finally got access to boats to get in. Don't know why it took so long, but we had similar frustrating experiences down here during the Kobe earthquake. You would think that they could do in 2 days what has actually taken 3 or 4 days. Other access is only by helicopter. Not many stories of people being pulled from rubble. Quite a few stories of groups of people being found who have gathered in a local evacuation center and rescue operations to deliver food and supplies to them by helicopter.
People in construction related businesses in my area have already been warned to be ready for lots of overtime work in the next several months. That's a bright side to a dismal story. On the other hand, they're talking about raising taxes to pay for the recovery. All TV stations are 24 hours non-stop disaster coverage. It's overwhelming.
Thanks for checking in!
From: Drew
To: haikuman
03/14/2011 08:46PM
Hi Rudie. In our area (Osaka/Kobe), no problems whatsoever. Tokyo is a mess, mainly because of the rolling blackouts. Lack of power has really affected the trains and subways, which the vast majority of people up there use for daily transportation. I've also heard of sporadic shortages of food and water up there, probably because of hoarding and transportation issues. As for the nuke plants, who knows. The facts are very hard to come by. I think that half of the reason is that the government wants to be very careful about creating panic and the other half is because no one really knows. I suppose that the weather will be a big factor in effects from leakage. Down here, I don't think that we have much to worry about, but Tokyo is not that far away. I think that if there is wind blowing in the direction of Tokyo followed by rain, then it could be a problem. Pure speculation from a non-expert there.
It's still very difficult for rescue teams to get into the hardest hit areas. The military finally got access to boats to get in. Don't know why it took so long, but we had similar frustrating experiences down here during the Kobe earthquake. You would think that they could do in 2 days what has actually taken 3 or 4 days. Other access is only by helicopter. Not many stories of people being pulled from rubble. Quite a few stories of groups of people being found who have gathered in a local evacuation center and rescue operations to deliver food and supplies to them by helicopter.
People in construction related businesses in my area have already been warned to be ready for lots of overtime work in the next several months. That's a bright side to a dismal story. On the other hand, they're talking about raising taxes to pay for the recovery. All TV stations are 24 hours non-stop disaster coverage. It's overwhelming.
Thanks for checking in!