Monday, August 1, 2011

Worrying News From Niigata

It wasn't my intention to return to blogging on a down note, but I thought that recent events would be of special concern to readers of this blog.

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Last weekend, a storm front came East from China and Korea, hitting the upper part of Honshu, and apparently decided to stop. It's dumped over 1 meter of rain, and still hasn't stopped. More than 300,000 people have been asked to move to higher ground, and Sanjo City is right in the middle of the flooding.

It goes without saying, my heart goes out to all those who are losing their homes and livelihoods in this devastating flood. So far the toll in lives has been three souls, and I grieve for their families.

But foremost in my mind is that I have been unable to contact Iwasaki-shi or Mizuochi-san, both of whom live in Sanjo. Iwasaki-shi's house is on high ground, luckily, at the very edge of Sanjo, on the side of a mountain. Mizuochi-san, however, is a bit further down. I can only pray that they and their families are safe.