Novel Explores How People React During Natural Disasters
'Cross Currents' inspired by 2004 Asia tsunami
Faiza Elmasry | Washington, D.C.
VOA - September 07, 2011

In August, as Hurricane Irene unleashed wind and rain along the U.S. East Coast, author John Shors found himself on a book tour, promoting his new novel, “Cross Currents,” which was inspired by the devastating tsunami that hit Thailand and other south Asian countries in 2004.

Shor's connection to Thailand began back in the early 1990s, when he graduated from college and decided to pursue his dream of backpacking in Asia. He landed a teaching job in Japan and saved money to fund the adventure, which took him from India and China to Vietnam and Thailand.

“In Thailand, a beautiful little island is called Kho Phi Phi. I just fell in love with this place," he says. "It was an absolute paradise; no roads, turquoise water, white sand, very friendly people. I just felt like I had stumbled upon one of the most beautiful places on Earth.”

Once he discovered the island, it was hard not to go back.

“I had gone back to Kho Phi Phi several times. I became more connected with the island and the Thai people and the culture. I just really loved it.”

On December 26, 2004, Shors was at his house in Colorado when images of the Indian Ocean tsunami engulfing the island flashed across the world.

“I was horrified that the island, which is only six feet above sea level, had been very, very harmed by this tsunami. Those images got me thinking about writing a novel about that day, about the tragedies and triumphs of that day.”

An estimated 230,000 people died in the tsunami, about 8,000 in Thailand. Three years later, Shors returned to the island expecting to see devastation.

“I was amazed at how much had been built. People cleaned up together. I had a lot of conversations with people who talked about how they actually survived that day and how they helped others and how they then rebuilt the island.”

Those conversations inspired "Cross Currents."

The novel centers around resort owners Lek and Sarai, who are struggling to support their children. They give Patch, a friendly young American, room and board in exchange for some work. But Lek learns that Patch has an expired visa and is on the run, so his presence now endangers Lek’s family.

Before these issues are resolved, the tsunami hits and sweeps the characters in new directions.

“One of the reason this novel is called "Cross Currents" is because it’s not just about the tsunami. It’s about people of different cultures, living together and getting to know each other and how those cultures sort of mix in together,” Shors says.

In the novel, two monstrous waves hit the island from both ends, converging in the middle. They hit while Patch is on the beach playing soccer with young Thai children. Shors wanted to examine people’s gut reaction when a natural disaster strikes.

In order to survive, he says, people need to trust and rely on each other.

“Whether it's a tsunami in Japan or an earthquake in Pakistan or China or wherever, it really seems to bring out the best in people. Of course, Mother Nature has incredible powers, destructive powers sometimes, but we also have a power within ourselves. When we put our minds and spirit together, we can obviously accomplish wonderful things.”

The waves come and take things away, but Shors says the waves can't take everything because some things are stronger, even, than the sea.

Japan - Engineers Prepare Damaged Reactors for Electrical Power

Japanese Engineers Prepare Damaged Reactors for Electrical Power
VOA - Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Japanese media reports say engineers at a stricken nuclear plant were preparing late Sunday to send electrical power into two nuclear reactors heavily damaged by a massive earthquake and a tsunami, as the toll of missing and dead from the twin disasters passed 20,000.

Japanese television said Tokyo Electric Power Company workers were inspecting equipment in reactors number 1 and 2 at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant, to make sure components were in working order. The report said engineers wanted to route electricity to the crippled plant's central control room by late Sunday, in a race to cool dangerously overheated spent fuel rods. TEPCO said it can begin collecting data on conditions in the reactors once power is restored.

The company also said pressure in reactors 3 and 4 showed some signs of stabilizing late Sunday. Additionally, authorities said the number 5 and 6 units — the least problematic of the six reactors — were safely under control after newly-restored backup power sources activated water pumps that cooled storage pool temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the government says Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will tour an area 20 kilometers from the plant on Monday. That announcement came hours after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the entire facility north of Tokyo will eventually be shut down because it had sustained too much damage to repair.

Japanese police said the tally of confirmed dead and missing from the March 11 catastrophes climbed to just under 21,000 by Sunday evening. Police said that estimate includes forecasts for nearly 15,000 fatalities in Miyagi prefecture, one of four northeastern jurisdictions that bore the brunt of the huge tsunami.

In a bit of good news Sunday, rescue workers pulled an 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson from a flooded house in the hard-hit city of Ishinomaki. The pair were evacuated by helicopter and are being treated in a hospital.

In another development, the Japanese government says elevated radiation levels have been detected in milk and spinach in Fukushima prefecture and in a shipment of fava beans shipped to Taiwan.

However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the tested food does not pose an immediate health risk. He said the government will decide Monday whether to ban sales and export of food products from the area.

Government health officials said Saturday that radioactive iodine was found in drinking water from Fukushima prefecture last week, at levels above government safety limits. Kyodo news, citing Japan's Health Ministry, says the iodine levels then fell. There was no explanation in the report as to why the information was not released sooner. The International Atomic Energy Agency says radioactive iodine can pose a short-term health risk if ingested, particularly for children.

The government also said trace amounts of radioactive substances have been detected in tap water in Tokyo and other areas, but at levels that are not dangerous to human health.

The risk of radiation poisoning has already forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people who lived within 20 kilometers of the reactors. Many are in makeshift shelters, with inadequate food, water and other supplies, in frigid winter weather.

Japan raised the severity rating of the disaster from 4 to 5 on the 7-point international nuclear event scale. Level 5 signals an accident with wider consequences, including some release of radioactive material, with a high probability of significant public exposure.


Japanese Engineers Prepare Damaged Reactors for Electrical Power
Article from VOA

Nuclear Crisis Deepens in Japan with Fire, Radiation Leaks

Japan's Nuclear Crisis Deepens With Fire, Radiation Leaks
VOA - March 16, 2011

The crisis at Japan's earthquake-stricken nuclear plant is deepening, with radiation emissions rising Wednesday to levels that forced authorities to temporarily evacuate the last technicians from the facility.

National television showed pictures of helicopters being prepared to drop water onto the Fukushima power plant's damaged number 3 reactor, in a desperate attempt to lower temperatures and prevent the nuclear fuel rods inside from melting down.

But NHK Television said the military aborted the plan after another helicopter flew over the plant to monitor radiation readings. Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said new preparations were under way late Wednesday to begin injecting water into the crippled reactor from the ground.

New fire erupts
Japanese awoke Wednesday to televised photos of a new fire at Fukushima's number 4 reactor, where a two-hour blaze on Tuesday released a plume of radiation that was detected as far away as Tokyo, 240 kilometers to the south. The new fire died down after a half-hour, and was soon replaced by clouds of white smoke pouring out of the number 3 unit.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Edano said the smoke was probably steam escaping from a rupture in the containment chamber housing the unit's nuclear core. Officials announced a similar rupture in the chamber of the number 2 unit a day earlier.

Danger forces evacuation
Edano said the skeleton crew of about 50 workers still struggling to pump seawater onto the fuel rods at all six of the plant's reactors had been removed from the plant for their safety, but that radiation levels appeared to be dropping by midday. He said later that monitoring showed radiation levels within 30 kilometers of the plant were not so high as to pose a threat to human health.

Even when they are not in use, the nuclear fuel rods remain very hot for weeks or months. Unless they are kept cool with a steady supply of water, their outer casings can melt away releasing radiation into the air.

At units 1, 2 and 3, the rods are inside thick concrete containment chambers designed to hold in any radiation, even if the rods melt down. But officials say the chambers surrounding units 2 and 3 have now been cracked, allowing radiation to escape.

Explosions have destroyed the outer buildings at all three of the units, caused when technicians vented steam from the containment chambers to ease a dangerous buildup of pressure. Seventy percent of the fuel rods at the number 1 reactor and 33 percent at the number 2 reactor are believed to have already been damaged or melted.

At units 4, 5 and 6, the rods were removed for maintenance before last week's earthquake and placed in cooling ponds outside the containment chambers. With the plant's pumping systems damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, those rods are also in danger of becoming exposed.

Worry spreads across Japan
The drama has caused alarm across a country already traumatized by the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan.

The governor of Fukushima prefecture, Yuhei Sato, said at a news conference that panic caused by inaccurate reporting of the nuclear crisis is preventing relief supplies from reaching the evacuees and victims of the earthquake. He urged nuclear power company officials to give out more accurate information and appealed to all Japanese to extend help to those who have been evacuated.

In Tokyo, residents have been buying up facemasks and protective gear while some foreign governments have warned their nationals to leave the capital.

Edano said Japan is preparing to ask the United States for technical assistance and may reach out to other countries. The International Atomic Energy Agency is also preparing to dispatch a team of experts.



Japan's Nuclear Crisis Deepens With Fire, Radiation Leaks
Article from VOA

Japan Tsunami - Horrible Aftermath Video

Video of Tsunami Worst-Hit Japan Areas
Japan apocalyptic scenes in tsunami worst-hit areas.




Rikuzentakata, a port city in Japan of over 20,000 people in Iwate Prefecture. Local media has estimated that almost three-quarters of the city was swept away by the tsunami, which surged over a 26 foot high dike. Video footage also shows searching wreckage for survivors in the town of Iwanuma, Japan in Miyagi prefecture.

Japan's Tsunami - Video of amazing escape

Watch an amazing escape from Japan's tsunami.
This amateur video from Japan shows people narrowly surviving rising waters caused by the tsunami.

Sendai, Japan Struggles to Hang On After Quake, Tsunami

Sendai Struggles to Hang On After Quake, Tsunami

VOA - Steve Herman | Sendai, Japan March 14, 2011

Photo: VOA - S.L. Herman - A Sendai resident carries paper goods on a debris-filled street, March 14, 2011

As search and rescue efforts continue in northeastern Japan, following the country's worst natural disaster, millions of survivors there are trying to get on with life.

Many of are facing scarcities of daily necessities and spending much of their waking hours waiting in lines.  It is a situation younger Japanese have never faced and only have heard about from their parents and grandparents who survived adversity during and after World War II.

Along the estimated 600 kilometers of coastline devastated by tsunami, the city of Sendai is the most prominent place. Its sea port and airport have been destroyed and no trains are running through any of its rail stations. They all were critical links for the city's infrastructure.

Related video report by Henry Ridgewell

The killer waves reached three kilometers inland here, leveling buildings and trees.

Aid Sent and Offered to Japan US: 8 warships off coast, 50 rescue workers, US AID sending 72 personnel and equipment Australia: sends dogs, search, rescue teams Afghanistan: provice of Kandahar offers $50,000 in aid Britain, France, Germany offer personnel, equipment, emergency aid Russia: increases energy supplies to Japan China, South Korea, India offer aid Los Angeles Dodgers and pop star Lady Gaga raise money for relief efforts

Half of the city's one-million people have no electricity in their homes. Hundreds of thousands of residences and businesses are also without water.

Although downtown Sendai suffered some quake damage, it still essentially looks like a modern Japanese city, protected by its relative elevation. A limited amount of commerce continues, in an attempt to supply the stunned population with basic necessities.

Keiko Tanaka, six months pregnant, walks with her mother along a street in central Sendai, carrying a big box loaded with spinach, lettuce and onions. They had waited in line at a green grocer for 30 minutes and said the price of vegetables has doubled since Friday.

Tanaka says they are trying to stock up while they can.

Tanaka says although the interior of her home is a mess because of the quake, she feels lucky to live in this part of the city that still has electricity and running water. But her family is worried how long that will last, especially with scheduled rolling blackouts beginning across the country and official predictions of a magnitude seven aftershock coming any day.

Vegetable shoppers are not the only ones waiting in line. Hundreds of people can be seen patiently waiting to get into the very few clothing, hardware and convenience stores still open.

For drivers, finding an open gasoline station has become nearly impossible. The wait to fuel up can extend for hours.

Nearly all restaurants are shuttered. But in central Sendai, a branch of the Nakau beef bowl restaurant chain has stayed open. It is offering only one menu item - curry wheat-flour noodle soup. Every meal includes a cup of free hot water.

Manager Akihiko Yamaguchi says business has been predictably brisk since the earthquake struck, knocking out most competitors.

Yamaguchi says they have decided to remain open as long as possible to give the people of Sendai encouragement to try to carry on.

Residents, despite their weariness, express confidence Sendai will again thrive, noting the city has faced adversity before during its 400-year history.

Twenty percent of Sendai was destroyed by American bombers during World War II.  It managed to rebuild, becoming the economic hub for this region of Japan.

 

Sendai Struggles to Hang On After Quake, Tsunami

Article and video from VOA

Help - Japan Earthquake, Tsunami - Donate

Donate and Help the People of Japan

Support Yahoo's Campaign to help Japan recover from the devastating tsunami and earthquake.

Donate to Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts

AMERICAN RED CROSS: Emergency Operation Centers are opened in the affected areas and staffed by the chapters. This disaster is on a scale larger than the Japanese Red Cross can typically manage. Donations to the American Red Cross can be allocated for the International Disaster Relief Fund, which then deploys to the region to help. Donate here.

GLOBALGIVING: Established a fund to disburse donations to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Donate here.

SAVE THE CHILDREN: Mobilizing to provide immediate humanitarian relief in the shape of emergency health care and provision of non-food items and shelter. Donate here.

SALVATION ARMY: The Salvation Army has been in Japan since 1895 and is currently providing emergency assistance to those in need. Donate here.

AMERICARES: Emergency team is on full alert, mobilizing resources and dispatching an emergency response manager to the region. Donate here.

CONVOY OF HOPE: Disaster Response team established connection with in-country partners who have been impacted by the damage and are identifying the needs and areas where Convoy of Hope may be of the greatest assistance. Donate here.

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: Putting together relief teams, as well as supplies, and are in contact with partners in Japan and other affected countries to assess needs and coordinate our activities. Donate here.

SHELTER BOX: The first team is mobilizing to head to Japan and begin the response effort. Donate here.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: How to help

Information on how to donate and help Japan sourced from the below link: Click to read the full article at Yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20110311/wl_yblog_newsroom/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-to-help


Japanese Struggling to Find Food and Water in Disaster Area
VOA - Sean Maroney March 12, 2011

Officials with Japan's nuclear safety agency said early Sunday morning there is an emergency at another nuclear reactor at a quake-hit power plant. The agency says the cooling system at the number three reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is offline and could possibly explode, following Saturday's blast at the plant's number one reactor.

Reports quoting government officials say up to 160 people may have been exposed to radiation. Meanwhile, residents in the country's northeast are struggling to find food and clean water.

Aftershocks continued to hit northeastern Japan Sunday, several days after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting 10-meter-high tsunami devastated the coastline.

VOA Correspondent Steve Herman is near the power plant. He says locals are complaining that the authorities are not giving them accurate information about the situation fast enough. "One of the things the authorities are trying to do is not have any panic spreading among people, but information about what is happening is coming out of Tokyo not Fukushima," he said.

Herman says authorities still have not determined how much damage the country's coastline communities have suffered. "Japan just has countless little farming communities and fishing communities. And it is these fishing communities that have really taken the horrible hit up and down the northeastern Pacific coast. There is obviously just hundreds, if not thousands, of these types of towns and villages that have been totally or partly destroyed," he said.

The final death toll could range from the thousands to tens of thousands, depending on how many of these communities are gone.

VOA reporters managed to travel to Fukushima by plane, but many airports, roads and railways remain flooded or damaged throughout Japan.

Herman says that because of this, people are scrambling to find basic necessities, even in inland areas such as Fukushima. "People are just trying to find clean water. Food supplies are running out. In the convenience stores, there are no rice balls left. There is no bottled water left. We are facing a really serious situation in the days ahead for these people that are living in areas that were only moderately damaged," he said.

Overall, analysts say Japan could have fared much worse in the disaster.

Tokyo has invested billions of dollars into making the country as earthquake-proof as possible. Architects specially design high-rise buildings to flex in a quake. Tsunami warning signs and large seawalls line the Japanese coast. Even schoolchildren practice drills on what to do during an earthquake.

However in the end, analysts say that no amount of human preparedness is foolproof against the power of nature.




Japanese Struggling to Find Food and Water in Disaster Area
Japan earthquake, tsunami article from VOA

Tsunami - What Causes a Tsunami?

What Causes a Tsunami?
VOA March 11, 2011

A tsunami is a series of large waves generated by an abrupt movement on the ocean floor that can result from an earthquake, an underwater landslide, a volcanic eruption or - very rarely - a large meteorite strike.

However, powerful undersea earthquakes are responsible for most tsunamis. Seismologists say only earthquakes measuring greater than 7.0 on the Richter scale can produce a major tsunami.

Most earthquakes that generate tsunamis - including Friday's jolt off Japan's eastern coast - occur in areas called subduction zones, where pieces of the Earth's crust press against each other. Subduction means that one tectonic plate slides beneath another and sinks deep into the Earth's mantle.

The friction between two slow-moving plates of the Earth's crust creates vast amounts of seismic energy which is released in the form of an earthquake. When a strong undersea earthquake strikes a relatively short distance below the sea floor, it abruptly pushes up one of the immense plates of the Earth's crust. That suddenly displaces an enormous amount of ocean water which becomes a tsunami, spreading outward in every direction from the epicenter of an earthquake - like ripples on a pond, only on a much larger scale.

Tsunamis generated in the open ocean appear to be only small waves, but they can grow rapidly in size as they reach shallow water before crashing into seacoast settlements. Waves up to nine meters high have been recorded on numerous occasions, and tsunamis up to 30 meters high are believed to have occurred in the past.

Damage is usually worst in areas closest to the undersea quake, often because the fast-moving waves will hit land so quickly. Tsunamis radiate out from the site of an undersea quake nearly as fast as a jet airliner can travel, but because the expanse of the Pacific is so wide, alert systems are in place to sound a warning to those in the path of an advancing wave.

The term tsunami comes from two Japanese words that mean "harbor" and "wave."



What Causes a Tsunami?
Article from VOA

Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan - At Least 200 Dead

At Least 200 Dead after Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan
VOA - Martyn Williams | Tokyo March 11, 2011


At least 200 people have been killed in a massive earthquake in Japan that also triggered a devastating tsunami. The quake - the most powerful to hit Japan in at least 100 years - caused massive damage and many people are missing and feared dead.

Video images from coastal areas struck by the tsunami showed widespread inundation as mud waves carried tons of debris over farmland in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi prefecture. Large-scale damage could be seen in various locations along the coast. In Chiba prefecture, a massive oil refinery fire has broken out.

In Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers away, buildings shook violently and items fell from shelves. The roof of at least one building collapsed.

Piere Manea, a student in Tokyo, ran out of his university dormitory when the quake struck.

"We were in the university building and it was quite strong, so after a few seconds we decided to go down. We were on the fifth floor and it was really strong," Manea said.

The powerful quake struck Friday about 125 kilometers off Japan's eastern coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Addressing the nation, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do anything it can to minimize the effects of the disaster.

Kan says he has created an office to deal with the disaster and maintain safety. He says the government will work to reduce the amount of damage to the smallest amount possible.

More than four million homes remain without power. Nuclear power stations, of which there are three in the region, either continued operating or were automatically shut down. Tokyo Electric Power said no radiation leaks were immediately detected.

The quake disrupted transportation across a large part of Japan. Trains automatically stopped, expressways were closed and flights halted.

Japan Rail has suspended all train services in the Tokyo region for the remainder of Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people are stranded in the city or have faced a long walk home.


Video clip: Japan earthquake




At Least 200 Dead after Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan
Article from VOA