Japan's Tragedy

    

      On March 11, 2011, one of the world’s most horrific disasters was thrust upon the coast of Japan. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake shook the cities and demolished buildings all over Japan. Shortly after the earthquake happened, a tsunami came that no one was prepared for.  Water flooded the remains of the shattered country and swept away millions of people, all left unmoving under the cold waters. The waves were over 120 feet high, reaching heights almost unheard of.  The Japanese National Police Agency has confirmed 13,591 deaths, 4,916 injured and 14,497 people missing, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami caused extensive structural damage in Japan, including heavy damage to roads as well as fires in many areas, and also a dam collapse. According to Tōhoku Electric Power, around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity. Rolling blackouts began on March 14, due to power shortages caused by the earthquake. 40% of the electricity is used in the greater Tokyo area is now supplied by reactors in the Niigata and Fukushima prefectures. The reactors at the Fukushima were automatically taken offline when the first earthquake occurred and have sustained major damage related to the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Rolling blackouts of three hours are expected to last until the end of April and will affect Tokyo and many other cities in Japan. By March 21^st, 2011, the number of households in the north without electricity fell to 242,927.  Japan declared a state of emergency following the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in the evacuation of nearby residents. Cooling is needed to remove decay heat after a reactor has been shut down, and to maintain spent fuel pools. Without being able to cool the Power Plant, there was some monstrous detrimental damage to the plant and the area surrounding it. Firefighters rushed to try to cool the plant down along with many other people. Danger and fear raced through everyone’s blood streams as the tension raised anticipation for fright of the overheating of the plant.

     Don’t just pray for Japan, pray for its people. I am honestly ashamed for the Americans that are concerned about the aftershock from Japan affecting the US. Every other country shames us, and they have good reason to. WE ARE JERKS! I think it is time to turn this stereotypical prejudice around. We can help Japan in so many ways. Simple things like water, food and medicine are running scarcely low. Every donation counts! The change in your pocket could be going toward someone’s life, someone’s child, and overall – helping a country in need.
    

     There is a very popular man on YouTube and his screen name is Nigahiga. He made a very extraordinary episode of his show to show how much he cared for Japan. He went out on an extremely busy street in his city and held a sign that said “Honk for Japan.” For every honk that was heard, he donated $10.00 to the Red Cross. I thought this was an amazing effort to help people around the world down in Japan. It really touched me how he could be so selfless and how other people helped him help other people.
    

     In my opinion, everyone should at least make an effort towards helping the Japanese. I can’t help but think of bodies upon bodies washing up on the shores, and children not being able to find their parents. I don’t know what I would do if that was me. So hopefully everyone can take a little kindness and love out of their hearts and give it to those people who really need it.