Posted on 04/01/2011 7:53:54 AM PDT by SteveH
The mayor of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, a city subject to a government directive for its residents to stay indoors to avoid radioactive fallout from a nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, has begun appealing to the world over the ''injustice'' of such an instruction.
Speaking in a roughly 11-minute English-subtitled video posted on the video-sharing site Youtube on March 24, Katsunobu Sakurai said the government's directive has made life extremely difficult for local residents.
''Even volunteers and those delivering relief supplies have no choice but to enter (the city) at their own risk,'' said a grim-looking Sakurai, wearing the same sort of protective clothing worn by workers in charge of disaster relief and other emergencies. ''Residents are being forced into starvation.''
The city of Minamisoma is located within a 20-30-kilometer radius of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which is leaking amounts of radioactive material into the air, soil and sea.
While the government has issued a directive for people who live within a 20-km radius of the plant to evacuate, those inside the ring have largely been left to themselves, many of them leaving on their own due to severe disruptions to their daily lives.
Kenichiro Nakata, a Minamisoma resident who made the video, said he wants the world to know that inhumane conditions exist in Japan. ''Residents affected by the disaster don't even know whether they should stay or evacuate,'' he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at english.kyodonews.jp ...
I hate when people get guilty because they didn’t pray. God is sovereign, and he will help them as much as he would have even if you prayed nonstop.
Word from a USN buddy is that Japan is so worried about radiation that they won’t even let our military throw away the rags that our crews are using to wipe down our ships...
"The current level in the city is about 2 micro (one one-millionth) Grays per hour. A flight from New York to Tokyo is about 200 micro Grays. People need to get outside start getting their lives back on track."So, pray tell does a flight from New York to Tokyo leave you with internal radioactive contamination that will contribute to a significantly higher cumulative dose over time?
I don’t understand why daily air drops are not being made to this town, either by the U.S. or Japanese organizations.
Oh, sorry, we can’t do it because we are IN ANOTHER FREAKING WAR!!!!
Great point - the Japanese are great at lining up orderly and waiting their turn like sheep but not so much on out-of-the-box thinking.
Police officers have also been searching for bodies in decimated towns inland, but in some cases their efforts have been complicated or even stymied by dangerous levels of radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.
People who live within 12 miles (20 kilometers) have been forced to leave, though residents are growing increasingly frustrated and have been sneaking back to check on their homes. Government officials warned Friday that there are no plans to lift the evacuation order anytime soon.
“I don’t think the evacuation zones make any sense,” said Tadayuki Matsumoto, a 46-year-old construction worker who lives in a zone 15 miles (25 kilometers) away where residents have been advised to stay indoors. “They don’t seem to have thought it out and are making things up as they go along.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/25000-us-and-japanese-soldiers-search-by-air-and-sea-for-bodies-of-tsunami-victims/2011/04/01/AFeGPOEC_story.html
I keep thinking of something Trump said recently: He was referring to our sending war ships to South Korea when North Korea was acting badly. He wondered why no one ever pays the US for our services. He had a great point as SK has a thriving economy. As our economy goes down the toilet who is going to bail us out? I understand helping Japan, but who ever helps the US?
Donations also can be done through the Salvation Army, click on ways to give and specify Japan disaster relief.
Are you being sarcastic or are you serious? This looks to be worse than Three Mile Island from what I am reading.
And this tsunami would have washed away any sea stationed windmills. Let alone that the things don’t work when it’s cold.
It is awful. I would just leave and never come back.
‘’Residents affected by the disaster don’t even know whether they should stay or evacuate,’’ he said
Well the gov. did say to leave after all...so they best leave. I sometimes wonder what makes people “wonder” what they should do when it’s pretty clear what they should do.
You mean like 9/11, right?
When I was a kid I asked my brother, who was in High School and therefore all-knowing to a little kid, what would happen if one of the Nuke plants were to blow up? (I don't think I knew the term meltdown or any of that). We lived within 20 miles of three plants. My brother said to me, all seriously, “Well, you lean over, put your head between your legs and kiss your a** goodbye”.
I hope it hasn't got to that stage yet.
“Well the gov. did say to leave after all...so they best leave. I sometimes wonder what makes people “wonder” what they should do when it’s pretty clear what they should do.”
I believe the gov first told them to remain indoors and specifically not to leave. They did so on the understanding that it was safer for them to remain indoors than to be outdoors breathing the tainted air and perhaps even offering a contamination problem to surrounding areas as they tried to leave. Then the situation did not improve as expected. Time dragged on and then delivery people were unwilling to enter this zone. And there are reports of people who leave this area being rejected by surrounding shelter unless they could provide a certificate indicating that they are not contaminated - but where would they get one of those? And in a belated sort of way...the gov said recently...that they could leave if they wanted to or suggested they may want to leave. So the impression may be that it is no safer to do so but that deliveries to the area are not likely to be sufficient so...oh well...maybe you should leave. I suspect they are still without power so perhaps they are getting their info from radio or perhaps not getting much info at all and are afraid.
It just seems remarkable that after all the strategic mistakes and fall from grace of our country, there are still people, from a very successful country, who look up to us and our government and think that maybe we do some things better than they do.
Yes, I suppose it might.
...although there might be some sociopolitical parallels with New Orleans and the BP disaster here.
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