Japanese Tsunami: A Tale of Human Suffering

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 29, 2011 -- The tsunami that hit Japan last March 11, 2011 is regarded as the worst catastrophe experienced by the nation since the dropping of the atomic bomb during World War II. Entire towns were wiped out by monstrous waves which were at least 10 feet to over 24 feet high. Over ten thousand people are estimated to have lost their lives during nature’s terrible onslaught. The tragedy of the tsunami is most vivid when seen from the eyes of the people who were actually there.

One survivor talked about how desperate he was to save his aged grandmother from the impending doom. The old woman, who was already past her nineties, could no longer walk. Thus, her grandson had to carry her on his back all the way up higher ground. While the both the grandmother and her grandson survived, none of the other members of their large family did. Another man returned to what once was his home in the city of Kuji two days after the tsunami struck. During the tsunami, the man had been away on a business trip in another city. When he returned, his entire house, including his wife and children who were in it when the tsunami fell, were gone with the rest of the city. It was as though the waters washed away all signs of civilization in the area, and the man can do nothing but weep about his loss. This loss is echoed by other people who survived the devastation that the tsunami brought to cities like Kuji. People in these towns now discuss everything in the past tense, such as where the city hall used to be, and when they used to be people who were happy and content with their lives. Many of them cannot imagine how to rebuild, and some even question why to do so when the loved ones that they lost cannot be replaced.

Still, there are some stories that do not end in tragedy. One woman who was studying in the United States was frantic to find out what had become of her parents. Her parents lived in the coastal city of Ōfunato which was one of the hardest hit places of the tsunami. Days after the tsunami, she still could not establish any contact with her parents. Footage of the utter devastation in Ōfunato disheartened her deeply, most especially the reports of hundreds of dead bodies being washed ashore, which drove her to unrelenting cries of desperation. However, her anguish was finally quenched when she chanced upon a news report that was shot in an evacuation center, where she saw her parents alive and well! She hurriedly made a call to the news agency to confirm that her parents were among the survivors and was overjoyed to find out that they were indeed the people that she saw in the report.

These different faces of people who suffered from the tsunami reveal the overarching intensity of the calamity that hit Japan and emphasize the need for people all over the world to unite in helping the ravaged nation recover.

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