The past two days have been absolutely terrifying as my wife and I sit in our home in Chicago, unable to do anything at all, while continuously watching the news feed on NHK and trying over and over again to phone my mother- and father-in-law in Sendai, wondering if they are OK. Seeing the horrifying images on the news, I can't stop wondering if Mom and Dad are safe, if they have anything to eat, where they are, if they're cold or possibly scared... I can't stop thinking about my wife's Uncle, Aunt and cousins who live in Fukushima Prefecture. How are they holding up? Did their house survive the disaster?? The only fact my wife and I have is that Mom and Dad survived the catastrophe. We know this only because Dad was able to send a couple of text messages to my sister-in-law who then relayed them to us.
I see so many people's homes and lives washed away by the 10-meter-high tsunami. I see families on TV desperate for help and in dire need of safety and rescue. I often can't fight back the tears that spill from my eyes out of feelings of despair and fear for the lives of all the people in northern Japan, not to mention the helpless feeling of not being able to do anything to help them.
Power and telephone services are down throughout the region which has completely cut us off from any way of communicating with our family. Something so very simple as making a phone call is impossible, which is a powerful fuel for the feelings of worry and anxiety that have overwhelmed our home. To make matters worse, the growing concern about the Fukushima nuclear power plants' condition adds yet another degree of uncertainty and concern.
How will Japan manage to recover from this horrible disaster? Will the people of the country that I love so dearly ever be able to return to their normal lives? An 8.8 magnitude Earthquake is absolutely unimaginable. Unfortunately, the obscure nature of what lies ahead is bound to continue for quite some time.
