Tag Archives: tea party

Fukushima, International

Heroine Miki Endo stayed at her post, warning people of the Tsunami until the very end. Update

In one north eastern Honshu coastal town, a city employee manned the emergency loudspeaker system, right up to the very end.

In video from NHK you can hear the woman’s voice echoing through the city (it’s truly haunting when you realize what is going on) even as the tsunami sweeps over all the buildings, including the 3 story town hall.  Miki Endo told residents to get to higher ground, over and over, with an intensity that caused some residents to think twice about going back home. One woman said if it wasn’t for Miki’s announcements she would not have realized the severity of the situation, and would have returned home instead of seeking higher ground.

Here’s a Spanish language news report that has the haunting NHK video.  I had a link to the original NHK report but apparently it’s been removed from the internet.

The 3 story steel I-beam framed town hall is nothing but a skeleton now.  The walls, floor and roof are gone.  Workers in the building rushed to the roof when they realized the tsunami was taller than the top floor.  The roof was still not tall enough, and most lost their lives, the survivors said they held on to exposed pylons for dear life.  The whole time Miki Endo, still inside the town hall, stayed at her post telling the towns people to get to higher ground, telling them they must go higher.

From left to right: The top of the 3 story Disaster Center (where people had fled thinking it was safe) completely covered by water, the water begins to recede, in just a few seconds the tsunami had totally striped the 3 story building killing almost everybody.

To update the story, and since so many people continue to read it, it turns out that Miki was not the only one who stayed at her post.  Miki’s boss stayed by her side, he also urged residents to get to higher ground, he was lost as well.

Miki has not been seen since, and her parents refuse to leave the devastated town, hoping to find her.

Fukushima

Tokyo vegetables hit by Radiation, 240km away from Fukushima!

238km (148 miles) away from the damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima, leafy vegetables in Tokyo have tested positive for cesium contamination.

Radiation is spreading across Japan, even though winds had been blowing out towards the Pacific most of the time. Also, more prefectures nearer to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are turning up signs of radiation contamination, mainly iodine-131.  Water supplies as far south as Tokyo have shown signs of iodine-131 contamination.

Fukushima

Mayors of disaster hit towns consider relocating their towns, survivors drifting!

Mayors of several Japanese townships, hit by the 9.0 quake/tsunami, are considering the reality that the survivors of their towns will have to relocate, especially those being affected by radiation contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Survivors told reporters that they are now “drifters” because everything was destroyed; they have no homes, no jobs.  Some have pointed out that they have no money because the local banks were destroyed.  Another problem is documentation, survivors have lost any type of documents that they would need.

 

Fukushima

Yakuza admit they’re having problems reaching quake/tsunami survivors

There are a lot of examples of how Japanese government officials failed in their reaction to the 9.0 quake/tsunami.  The Yakuza even made a show of their own fast disaster relief response.

However, even the Yakuza are no match for Mother Earth.  Yakuza leaders are admitting that they are having trouble getting to the hardest hit areas, just like the government: “Because of the devastation, it’s been impossible to make contact with our people in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures. We haven’t been able to make contact by telephone, and in some cases, damage to the roads made it impossible to get through to the towns.”

This is proof that the 9.0 quake/tsunami was truly catastrophic.

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Toyota restarts hybrid production

People who just have to have a hybrid car will be glad to know that Toyota plans to start making them again.

Toyota’s hybrids are made in Japan, and production was shut down due to parts shortage (thank Mother Earth, 11 March 2011 quake-tsunami). They plan to resume production on Monday.

Production of non-hybrid Toyota vehicles, made in Japan, remains halted.

 

Business/Economics, Fukushima

No farming in parts of Japan thanks to radiation

Some farming villages that escaped the tsunami, did not escape radiation from Fukukshima Daiichi nuclear plant.

What has people amazed is that these farming villages are outside the government’s 30km nuclear disaster zone.

Soil samples have revealed that radiation levels are more than 1,000 times normal.  Wind and rain is suspected for bringing the radiation outside the 30km zone.

This is proof that nuclear disasters affected far greater areas than what most people think.  This will just add to the world’s growing food supply problems.

Fukushima

Despite main stream media reports, Progress NOT being made at Fukushima Daiichi

TEPCO officials report more problems with trying to get their nuclear plant under control.

Reactor 2 continues to emit more and more radiation.  Officials are unable to find out why, because radiation levels are so high that no one can go near the reactor.

Several works have been sent to the hospital because of exposure to high radiation. One worker is said to have “Beta Burns”.  At least two workers were standing in radioactive water in reactor 3, trying to connect power lines.  The water contains radiation levels as high as 180 millisieverts.

Fukushima

Nuclear plant disaster plan did not include Tsunami

Despite the fact that Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is built on the coast line, TEPCO, and government officials, dismissed concerns over possible tsunami.

Seismologist, Okamura Yukinobu, warned of a debilitating tsunami in June 2009. He also requested that nuclear plant disaster plans be reviewed for tsunami readiness.

Japanese officials dismissed his request because they did not think a tsunami was a threat.

Fukushima

Reactor 4 built with defect says former engineer, making it a “time bomb”!

Tanaka Mitsuhiko is an engineer who helped build reactor 4’s containment vessel in 1974.  Tanaka says he helped hide a defect in the steel used to make the containment vessel.

Reactor 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi was shut for maintenance when the March 11 quake triggered a tsunami that lead to explosions and radiation leaks.

Tanaka has called reactor 4 a “time bomb”.

Fukushima

Smoke from 4 Reactors, pressure increase

NHK reporting that their helicopter crew confirms that there is white smoke come from reactors 1, 2, 3 & 4.  This is the first time smoke has come from reactor 1.

Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano, announced that reactor 1 is showing pressure increase, even after temperatures were brought down with water.  The problem now is that every time they inject water into the cooling system it results in higher pressure in the containment system, which is also bad.