YAMAGATA, Japan — Some are stuck in their homes, fearful of radiation, heeding government warnings to stay indoors, cut off without electricity or phone service. Others want to leave but have no gasoline. Still more, those whose homes were ruined wait helplessly for evacuation at crowded shelters.
All face dwindling supplies of heating fuel, food, and water.
A week after the earthquake and tsunami devastated their communities, the plight of the thousands still stranded in areas near the stricken reactors — many too old or infirm to move — has underscored what residents say is a striking lack of help from the national government to assist with the evacuation of danger zones or the ferrying of supplies to those it has urged to stay inside.
Instead, the task has fallen to some local governments and even private companies and organizations that have made limited but heroic efforts to help those left behind. Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless along coastal communities, and the search for bodies has been halted in the evacuation zone.
Can we stop panicking now and HELP THESE PEOPLE...???
Residents reached by telephone said the order by the government to evacuate a 12-mile radius around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as well as the request for those who live 12 to 18 miles away to stay indoors, has turned communities such as Minamisoma into ghost towns, populated mostly by the unwilling and the unlucky.
Animal rescue groups have joined forces to help the untold number of dogs -- inu - in Japanese, cats and other furry friends have been lost and injured in the tsunami and earthquake that devastated Japan one week ago.
Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, or JEARS is made up of three Japanese animal welfare groups, Animal Friends Niigata, Japan Cat Network, and HEART-Tokushima to coordinate relief efforts for animals.
“We want to take those pets and hopefully reunite them with their families once the families can figure out what they want to do,” said David Wybenga of Japan Cat Network.
...It might be several days until JEARS will be able to get the extra help they need on the ground and the nearly $167,000 that the organization received in donations will not last much longer.
Fortunately, Nestle Purina USA announced Thursday that they will start delivering pet food and money to local shelters and rescue groups.
“We need the infrastructure and the supplies to keep these animals alive, probably for a very long time,” said Galloan-Aoki.