Stuart Tierney in Japan

[Mike Holbrook]

Is Stu in Japan? Does anyone know if he is ok if he was there during the disaster?

Sending him an email just figure some here know him well.

[Tim Put]

I don't think we're allowed to link to other forums, but he's posting on one of those other big woodworking forums and is apparently fine.

[Bruce Page]

Do you mean Stuart Ablett in Tokyo? He and family are ok.

[Sam Takeuchi]

Stu is faaaaaar away from any of this disaster area. I doubt he's even felt anything since he's in Western part of Japan. I think he's fine.

[Stuart Tierney]

Yes, I'm fine. I think I felt the earthquake itself, as the house kinda rattling a little but that could have been someone walking around upstairs too...

If that Tsunami had got to where we are, then the whole planet would have been in a world of hurt, a long way away and around the corner and through a restrictive channel to the sea as well.

Thanks for the thoughts, but I'd prefer them to be directed towards the folks who need them further north.

Life is boringly normal around here, save the saturation news coverage as you'd expect.

And yes, Stu in Tokyo has some mess to clean up, but is also fine.

Stu, in Kagawa.

[Mike Holbrook]

Great to hear you are well Stu. Pretty scary things going on over there. We had a 500 year flood here last spring and that was more water than I hope to see again.

[Sam Takeuchi]

My grandmother was born and raised in that tsunami area, a township used to be called "Ogatsu-cho", a coastal town now a part of Ishinomaki-city in Miyagi. Right between Sendai-city and Kesennuma-city (it's the city featured on tv as burning city at night). I don't know my great uncle and aunts well, but I've met them a few times. I'm more worried about emotional burden on my grandmother's part. She's 92, bed ridden and not in good health. She's quite fragile now. I hope she doesn't worry herself sick about her siblings and relatives. I've been watching the news live feed online for the past 24 hours, had a little sleep. So far, there's really no way to get info on those coastal cities and towns aside from bits of image from news choppers. As far as my family and grandmother and aunt, they are all in Yokohama, so 'tis all good. They just had furniture toppling and blackout for about six hours.

P.S. My father and brother cause minor earthquake and thunder when they walk upstairs, too.

[Mike Holbrook]

Here's hoping all your family are fine Sam.
Nature still has a way of humbling us all.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I am glad those who checked in are fine.

Sam, I hope you find that all your relatives are okay too.

You only have to see something like this or be in a storm on a ship in the north Atlantic in early March to realize just how powerless man really has. Nature is, in fact, humbling.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I found a news report showing my grandmother's hometown. There is absolutely nothing left. One of her sisters and her husband were living there and they are missing. Other two of her siblings and spouse of one of them were in Sendai. If they managed through the earthquake, I think they should be ok, far enough from the coast, but trying to track down evacuees are extremely difficult now. There is no centralized registry between evacuation centers and phone connection is sporadic and unreliable. My parents and aunt don't know what to do. As for me, I've been doing research, trying to find evacuation centers and listing missing people's names on online registry to get any information about them.

This link (http://www.news24.jp/articles/2011/03/12/07177995.html) is in Japanese, but click on that blue bar and triangle on the left to see the video of news report from her hometown. That's the town, at at least used to be.

P.S. Thank you for kind words. If possible, if you could donate to Red Cross or any other reputable organizations would be very appreciated, however small amount it may be.

[Jim Underwood]

Sam,
I don't know if this will help, but here's something Google is doing to help relatives find each other.


If you know of people who are trying to contact friends, family and colleagues in Japan, please let them know about Google's Person Finder, which can help connect people. This tool was initially created during the Haiti Earthquake and Google's Crisis Response Team now uses it during major crises.

(Japanese version? I don't have those characters on my PC.) http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/

(English version: http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en)

[Sam Takeuchi]

Yes, I registered their names there several days ago and just yesterday I actually had someone email me to tell me that the last missing relatives are okay. All six missing relatives are alive. Until then I was going through image after image of hand written evacuee lists from numerous shelters, also checking blog posts where people generously provided as info bulletins. All in all, spending about 18 hours a day checking all that while having several live news broadcasts from Japan about nuclear power plants playing at the same time on the laptop. It's been tense.

As for my parents and siblings, they are going through daily planned black out, no heating so wrapping themselves in blankets (Japanese houses are horribly insulated...plus even kerosene heater needs to be plugged in for all the electric bling-bling) and buying essential goods are difficult as people are hording up everything. I think it's the one event that makes people think twice about their way of life there. Power companies (especially this Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of this troubled power plants) have been pushing this "all electric appliances" stuff for the past few years, but I think people would have second thought about relying on electricity for everything now.

Lucky for people in the Western part of Japan, their electricity is incompatible with the Eastern half, so they don't have planned black out. But that's a good thing, at least half the country is fully functional. As far as northeastern Japan goes, if they can manage this nuclear reactor, they'll be able to rebuild. If if if...

P.S. Many many thinks!

[Bruce Page]

Sam, thank God your loved ones are alive and safe.