Merged 8.8 quake in Sendai, Japan

[William Parcher]

Fox News has coverage of the gentleman found floating 9 miles out at sea on the remains of his roof. I do hope the rescue operations include searching the sea.

Obama said we have aircraft carriers and other Navy ships there. He said one of their primary tasks is to inspect the floating debris out at sea.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Obama said we have aircraft carriers and other Navy ships there. He said one of their primary tasks is to inspect the floating debris out at sea.

I am very glad to hear that. Thanks.

 

[DaN K. StAnLeY]

News channels don't seem to be covering the situation in NZ ever since this story broke. I feel horrible for both countries, but it's weird when you see the media completely abandon one tragedy for another.

Also, the nuclear situation in Japan reminds me of the Akira K. flick called "Dreams." It's a collection of short films and one is called Mt. Fuji in Red. I remember it giving me anxiety as youngster because I would imagine it being real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTg3D1PoyUE

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Article and picture of man rescued out at sea.

 

[Ranb]

One gripe about the news reporting concerning the damaged nuclear power plant. The news keeps dumbing down the details. Why can't they release some actual numbers? Some of us out here actually know what a curie or becquerel is. I keep hearing the words "radiation leak", like it is something that is bad. Well, radiation always "leaks" from a reactor, no way to stop it, only lower it to a level that is acceptable to the operators and regulators.

I'm not really learning anything new watching the news right now.

Ranb

 

[Soapy Sam]

Distinguishing between "leak" and "controlled release" would be good, too.

 

[angrysoba]

Does anyone have an idea how much time it will take for things to return to "normal" ? I mean, aside from the loss of life and material, the cleaning up, the rebuilding, there's the matter of repairing infrastructure, power outages, economic repercussions, etc.

Are we talking about years, here ?

Well, maybe the best indicator will come from looking at Kobe. That place was utterly devastated in 1995 with over six thousand killed from the earthquake and fire (no tsunamis though, as far as I am aware).

But five years later there was almost no evidence of any damage.

 

[Rolfe]

The way pets were handled in the Katrina flooding was wrong. I can understand not being able to take them in the initial rescues. But people were prevented from later returning to get their animals at their own expense. Yes, looting may have needed public resources to prevent if people were let into flooded areas, but that could have been managed as well. It was poorly handled.

Oddly enough, it wasn't. It was the publicity that was poorly handled. At the time we were being told that everything was as you say, and it was only later due to articles in veterinary journals I found that the rescue of the animals had in fact been handled somewhat better than the rescue of the people. The vet school at Baton Rouge had a plan, and acted on it, and it worked.

The problem was that this wasn't widely known, and some rescuers were insisting pets be left behind, and then finding that people were refusing to leave them and so on.

The actual pet rescue was a model of how to do it. They probably need to take on board that the human rescue people need to know the pet rescue plan exists.

Rolfe.

 

[a_unique_person]

Rolling Blackouts start today because there is not enough electrical generation capacity.

For some incomprehensible reason, Eastern Japan and Western Japan have incompatible electrical systems (50 MHz in the East, 60 in the West) which from what I can gather prevents them from buying electricity from utilities in Western Japan.

Some trains are stopped. I can't get to my office today. What's going to happen to the Economy?

A Just In Time production system isn't going to cope too well with this type of disruption.

 

[Belz...]

Well, maybe the best indicator will come from looking at Kobe. That place was utterly devastated in 1995 with over six thousand killed from the earthquake and fire (no tsunamis though, as far as I am aware).

But five years later there was almost no evidence of any damage.

So years, then ?

I wonder how much of a toll it'll take on their economy.

I guess one way to help'll be to keep buying lots of stuff from Japan.

 

[BenBurch]

One gripe about the news reporting concerning the damaged nuclear power plant. The news keeps dumbing down the details. Why can't they release some actual numbers? Some of us out here actually know what a curie or becquerel is. I keep hearing the words "radiation leak", like it is something that is bad. Well, radiation always "leaks" from a reactor, no way to stop it, only lower it to a level that is acceptable to the operators and regulators.

I'm not really learning anything new watching the news right now.

Ranb

If a nuc plant put out as much radioactive material as a coal plant, NRC would shut it down.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I imagine the insurance industry in Japan might be completely different than in the US, I'll let someone else answer that. But in the US, you have to have flood coverage and a policy that doesn't exclude certain natural disasters.

You are incorrect.

 

[BenBurch]

Well, I do know that my policy specifically excludes floods. But I am 75 feet above the nearby stream, so I don't think I am in much danger.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Oddly enough, it wasn't. It was the publicity that was poorly handled. At the time we were being told that everything was as you say, and it was only later due to articles in veterinary journals I found that the rescue of the animals had in fact been handled somewhat better than the rescue of the people. The vet school at Baton Rouge had a plan, and acted on it, and it worked.

The problem was that this wasn't widely known, and some rescuers were insisting pets be left behind, and then finding that people were refusing to leave them and so on.

The actual pet rescue was a model of how to do it. They probably need to take on board that the human rescue people need to know the pet rescue plan exists.

Rolfe.

You are talking about the rescue, AFTER, the idiots managing the disaster finally caved in to public pressure to get their heads out of their asses and let the rescuers in to the area. There was no reason for it. Whether it was total bureaucratic incompetence or willful coverup of the incompetence, who knows? But nothing was gained by the delay of WEEKS not days, WEEKS where pets were starving and dying horrid deaths trapped without water or food. One poor man finally just defied the police and went in to get his cat. Fortunately he was able to find the animal. Why should he have to break the law to get his cat? His house wasn't even one of those that were under water, it wasn't falling down. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR IT!

How convenient for Bush to coverup the news coverage of the disaster by preventing all filming of the extent of the damage. It took a documentary for the facts to come out because the news coverage was literally prevented. I cannot help thinking this was purposeful.

This was a PBS documentary, not a "news story": Katrina's Animal Rescue

More than 250,000 pets — from cats and dogs to parrots and fish — were left stranded by the storm’s destruction. Owners, expecting to return a few days later, left food and water for their pets. But days turned into weeks, and pets had to struggle to survive without supplies or the love and care of their owners.

NATURE’s Katrina’s Animal Rescue tells the remarkable and heart-wrenching story of those who came to the aid of these abandoned animals. Rescue workers venture into polluted floodwaters and break into abandoned homes to rescue dehydrated, starving dogs. Vets work nonstop to provide medical treatment to rescued animals. At shelters, volunteers help families comb through thousands of cages. Will there be a happy reunion?

So yeah, after the rescue effort finally happened a lot of pets were saved. But there was no reason whatsoever except ignorant bureaucracy or willful cover up that delayed the pet rescue operation. Those people who finally were allowed in to get the animals had to shame the authorities to finally just allow a handful of rescuers to go into the area. It angers me terribly just being reminded of it.


National Geographic: Katrina Pet Rescue Efforts Offer Lessons for the Future I can't believe you of all people think this was such a model way to handle pets in a disaster.

 

[MattusMaximus]

I get that MatMax, but you cannot deny what happened at Chernobyl. And it's hard to know what is going on here given the official reports don't seem the most trustworthy.

I'm not afraid of radiation any more than I'm afraid of driving my car, but one should not take the attitude hazards are nothing to worry about. One should take the attitude of reducing one's hazards including the hazard of stress from worry.

You are right that knowledge is power. But limiting one's radiation exposure is a worthwhile goal.

Please point out where I have "denied" anything that happened at Chernobyl.

And, for the record, comparing the current situation to Chernobyl is just plain ignorant. Do you even realize that the two reactors involved - Chernobyl and Fukushima - are of fundamentally different designs (which makes a huge difference)?

 

[MattusMaximus]

Let's see. Build a nuclear reactor in a major earthquake/tsunami zone without having the ability to shut it down should either, or both, of those two happen . . . great.

I wonder if other nuclear facilities around the world are taking notes?

Are you dense? Do you realize that as soon as the earthquake hit the Fukushima reactor was shut down?

I swear, if I keep reading posts like this, I'm going to facepalm myself into unconsciousness...

 

[MattusMaximus]

Still doesn't make sense. Did no one realise that a quake relatively close to the reactor would mean a tsunami within minutes? It isn't like Japan doesn't have a history here.

I hope they get it sorted out. They don't need an earthquake, a tsunami AND a Chernobyl.

For the umpteenth time, this is not another Chernobyl.

 

[MattusMaximus]

Yes, earthquake hit followed ten minutes later by the tsunami. Not much time to effect a shutdown.

Shutting down a nuclear pile isn't like turning off a light. The shutdown process was started after the quake, but after that it takes days for any nuclear pile to completely shut down. Try reading this article and get your facts straight: Nuclear energy 101: Inside the "black box" of power plants

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Well, I do know that my policy specifically excludes floods. But I am 75 feet above the nearby stream, so I don't think I am in much danger.

I opted out of flood coverage too, I live on a hill. My last house was actually on a creek but the lender didn't require flood coverage because the house was high enough up the embankment that it was outside of the 100 yr flood designation, otherwise we'd have had to have flood coverage to get the loan. It all depends on where a house is located and whether a lender requires certain coverage.

 

[Myriad]

Roads and rails are impassable. There aren't nearly enough helicopters.

I wish the U.S. (or anyone's) military could pull a few thousand of those Normandy-invasion landing barges out of the past. Load them up with bottled water, food, and medical supplies, and send them in all along that coastline. Irony be damned.

Respectfully,
Myriad