What started out as a pleasant trip to Sendai, almost turned into a nightmare in my sleepy little prefecture. This all steamed from an email we received from a friend living in Morioka, advising us to come home as soon as possible. We only got a taste of what was to come when the bus driver told us the highway was closed and we would be late by over an hour.
It appears that Typhoon 11 left more damage than anyone could have anticipated. Many of Iwate’s rivers, already near overflowing from the storm, unleashed their fury yesterday, forcing evacuations all over the prefecture. My former home, Ichinoseki was under about fivefeet of water, and many parts of Hanamaki and Morioka were almost evacuated due to rising waters levels. I was very lucky to be living on higher ground. My home wasn’t damaged.
The secondary effects of this flooding weren’t even noticable to me until today. It appears many parts of the rail between Hachimantai-Matsuo and Hanawa were washed out completely. If I didn’t already have a car or the ability to drive, I would been unable to get to most of the schools I teach at. Even the road I use to jog is lying under water. Many of the rice fields in my town are now submerged as well.
I’m sure there will be more to tell about this story. I will will update you as information becomes available. I am attempting to get information of people that were evacuated and casualties.
Update 1: This article tell of two people carried away by flood waters in Morioka. The search is continuing for them today.
Update 2: An article from the Asahi shinbum gives a quick summary of the people involved so far.
Remember how I was talking about some of the things that I don’t like about Japan. Well this morning at 6:40am I came across yet another little annoyance. Who needs an alarm clock to wake up when you can be gently rocked out of your bed by a terrifying magnitude 6.9 earthquake. Be rest assured, I was out of bed and fully awake within 10 seconds. Now that I’m at school and my heart beat has slowed down. We are all lucky that is happened out at sea. I suppose I might as well call this “Nasty Japan” week here.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m okay. There was a very powerful earthquake here yesterday that did a lot of shaking. My apartment felt like it was being torn to pieces. But luckily for all of us, it wasn’t powerful enough to cause any real damage. There were some places in Sendai that suffered damage, but overall, it looks like we are all okay. I will admit, I have never felt an earthquake that large before. It was quite terrifying. I hope I will never have to experience one like that again. If you ever wanted to know what it feels like. Try to imagine your house shaking so much that the heavy books on your book shelf come flying off of it. Yes, I had a lot to clean up yesterday.
The Top reads: Earthquake+Tsunami=Flee!
In light of recent events, I was a little concerned about putting this up as a poster of the day. But I can’t help it. I really feel for the little stick person as he is fleeing from the waves. Good thing the arrow is there to tell him the right way to go. He might have run right into the waves.
The scary truth is that every year, green ascending blocky terrain makes it difficult for our stick people to safely flee from the chaos. Let’s join together
and prevent the senseless agglomeration of green blocks on our beaches. Let’s keep them where they belong: In Tetris.
I survived the largest Typhoon I’ve ever been in before. The winds and rain were quite extreme, but I was able to pass the time watching the launch of the worlds first private spacecraft!
In other news, I completed my Japanese course here and am now preparing to interview for a special translation course that is being offered. I doubt I’ll get in, but it will be good practice for the proficiency exam I expect to write later this year. Also, stay tuned!! My Japanese blog is coming soon.
Just after I posted the last update, I got hit by another earthquake. Second one in the same day. No worries, it just rattled my house for about a minute. I’ll live. I don’t need an amusument park. I have one. It’s called Japan. It’s rides go from 1 on all the way to 9.6.
