I’m surprised that Gamera hasn’t shown up yet to help out, after all, not only is Gamera friend to all children, I’ve also heard that he’s pretty neat AND full of meat as well…
We believe in Gamera
(should I be worried that not only did my iPhone recognize the name Gamera, but that it also properly capitalizes it, even though this is the first time I typed the name Gamera on my iPhone? )
Nope, it canceled the tour for safety reasons. :eek:
Any updates on the nuclear power plant?
no, just that they are using salt water to try and cool things off.
there is a news conference on the nuclear issue on japanese tv right now… so perhaps there will be a good answer soon?
It occurs to me that this may be the least mundane or pointless thread ever posted in MPSIMS.
Official blog post from Disney on their status.
Judging by the commentary - including remarks from Japanese guests currently at the Florida resorts - Disney has and is doing a great job taking care of their guests.
So glad that most of the Japan Dopers have been heard from and are safe. I actually teared up at the thought of them being hurt. Er, I mean, I got something in my eye right at that moment.
I saw some of the video of the second quake taken at Disney Land. It was scary! I’m glad you are OK and that your house is basically OK.
I think that the government did learn A LOT from the last big Kobe earthquake. That time, there were navy ships in the harbour which offered water and aid right away - the Kobe city authorities refused. The army wasn’t allowed in for a couple of days, despite having been ready in an hour or two to mobilise. My husband was ready to go but his unit was never asked.
This time, they were asked within an hour. Being in Hokkaido, they have just arrived this morning but the nearer units have been there for 24 hours at least, now. As have police and fire and coastguard units. The government took disasters off local governments and made it a countrywide thing. Last time international rescue teams pretty much only arrived in time to find bodies. This time the first teams arrived within hours. The Japanese government asked for help and accepted offers as soon as they were extended.
The other thing that I want to say that I’m so grateful for and impressed by is how very much the regular staff of Disneyland, restaurants, shops etc have stepped up with no regard to their safety. I saw a video of the quake hitting in a big department store. All the staff came out into the aisles and appealed for calm, and within a few seconds of the shaking subsiding somewhat had formed a chain to guide all the customers out of the shop floor and down the stairs and outside. The Disneyland staff were mostly young kids in their twenties - no shaking, no crying, just calmly asking people to sit, offering support, and later handing out food and blankets etc. On the long walk out of Tokyo that night, convenience stores, gas stations, cafes etc were handing out food and drink, blankets, offering to charge cell phones.
Then there is the heartbreaking footage of all the many kindergarten and daycare teachers being rescued with some of their little children - they are paid so little and yet love their kids so well.
I can’t speak yet finally for the government’s response as we are still in the middle of this but right now I have nothing but admiration for the response so far, both in terms of official response and in personal.
It is hard to sit up here and not be able to do anything. One of the wonders of this time is that though most of the phones and cell phones were out for at least a day, the Internet stayed up and so we were able to e-mail and to post on FB. I’m also impressed and deeply grateful for the Google People Finder. I belong to an association of foreign wives, and we were able to get a roll-call going and repeat messages along the various groups and boards as we heard news until all (this morning) of our members and their families were accounted for. I’ve spend hours passing on messages and updating various lists but that’s about all the concrete help I’ve been able to be, so far. We have also offered our house for anyone who needs to get away for a while. The ferries on the Japan Sea side are still working so it might be possible to get away by sea but the roads are so badly smashed up right now.
That’s another thing - the government got 170,000 people out of the radiation area last night, in the dark, on smashed up roads, to evacuation centres. That is a pretty amazing feat, I think.
I just heard on NPR that they’re using a combination of sea water and Boron.
The Globe and Mail is reporting that there may be a partial meltdown underway at the Fukushima plant.
Actually it is 6 reactors at 2 different plants perhaps in peril.
I remember that day. The wife and I here in Bangkok actually did detect the quake when it occurred, although we didn’t know what it was at the time. We were awoken by the sound of our windows buzzing. Literally buzzing, from vibration. I was like “What the hell?!?” Opened a window and stuck my head out but saw nothing. Figured maybe the neighbor above was having some work done. Stopped after a minute or two, and we forgot all about it until the reports started coming in a few hours later. My friend in Roi Et, way up in northeastern Thailand, said the water in every well in the province plunged at the time of the quake.
Got to take a surprise ride in an Army helicopter today. One of my duties at my base is helping out with Noncombatant Evaucation. Basically, in the event of war or major disaster, we gather up all the American or allied civilians we can find and ship them to Safe Havens elsewhere. I guess given recent events in Japan, they decided to practice having the Army airlift people out, and for that they needed people. So I got asked by a Senior Master Sergeant if I wanted to go for an Incentive Ride.
They bussed us out, we got a quick safety briefing (“Don’t walk in front of the helicopter, the rotor blades swing down a bit and it might hurt.”) piled in, strapped in, and the chopper gently took off before the pilot decided to try his hand at some acrobatics (It’s an Army pilot with a couple dozen Air Force guys riding in the back. I’d have held it against him if he didn’t try to make us lose our lunch.) They lowered the tail ramp and let us get some great views before dropping us back off again.
Still waiting to see if they’re going to call on any of us here to go to Japan and help out there. I’ve dropped remarkably unsubtle hints to my higher-ups that I’d be interested, given that I used to live in Japan as a kid.
And yeah, for some reason, the story about the theme parks and the convenience stores and restaurants helping out has reminded me that I need to clean the AC vents in my dorm room. It just got dusty in here. rubs eyes
It does look like the government is much better prepared this time. (As far as I can tell while watching a 2 1/2 year old toddler and a 5 month old baby.
It looks like we’re going to have planned blackouts tomorrow. Not enough electricity to go around. Charge the cell phones and laptop tonight.
Amazing and horrifying before and after pictures here:
Looks like our area is scheduled for the 1:50 pm to 5:30 pm slot for the blackout.
This video is pretty terrifying. The building it was filmed from must have been pretty strong to stand up to the wave.
One of the tiny things that made me smile was Suntory revealing that they had an emergency switch on all their vending machines so people could get water. I think that’s amazing - that the vendor builds in something like that, and that the people respect it as being for emergencies.
Auto reporting in again. Things have largely returned back to normal in Aomori City. I was able to go shopping for enough food to last a week or two just in case, and one of my favorite restaurant-bars was even open. A few drinks and some gyouza have calmed my still-rattled nerves immensely.
I go back to work tomorrow. The schools will have a half day. I am both surprised and not surprised. Kinda hard to explain.
One thing worries me though. From here. There is a 70% percent chance of a level 7 quake in the next three days. Good God.
Thanks for the updates, Autolycus. It’s good to hear that normal life of sorts is still going on; it’s hard to imagine from seeing the devastation on the TV.
Was Aomori City affected by the tsunami at all? I just looked at a map and see it’s on the coast but looks to be somewhat sheltered from the direction of the quake.