Nearly a week after their home town was annihilated in a catastrophic tsunami, the 1,000-plus survivors of the small Japanese fishing town of Otsuchi are hanging by a thread.
With no water or electricity and scant food, survivors keep each other company at one of three emergency shelters on the outskirts of what remains of the town.
"You can't wash your hands or face," said 72-year-old Katsu Sawayama, seated in the middle of the high school gymnasium, the biggest of the shelters in a town where more than half the 17,000 residents are still missing.
Adding to their woes, a heavy snowstorm sent temperatures plunging below zero and blanketed acres of tsunami debris in white.
While international attention has been focused on Japan's efforts to stop damage at a quake-hit nuclear power plant from spiraling out of control, a massive salvage and rescue operation has slowly been gathering steam. Scores of villages, hamlets and towns lining Japan's northeast coast were flattened by tsunami waves that rolled in minutes after Friday's magnitude 9 earthquake.
About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity, Tohuku Electric Power Co said, while the government said at least 1.5 million households lacked running water.
"There are some cases of dehydration," said Eric Ouannes, general director for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Japan, after he visited shelters in northern Miyagi and Iwate prefectures.
"We are seeing very small health problems but these can deteriorate. We have been restarting treatment for elderly people who have hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular problems," he added.
Like tens of thousands of people along Japan's northeast coast, the Otsuchi survivors have nowhere else to go.
Meals are barely enough to sustain them - half a rice ball and a small bowl of miso soup is a luxury; a slice of bread might have to feed a family of three.
"Whatever they give us, we just gratefully receive. At least they're feeding us three times a day," said Sayawama.
International experts say that panic over fears of radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could detract from problems likely to affect survivors of the quake and tsunami, such as the cold, access to clean water and getting enough food.
"People are getting so concerned about what are at the moment pretty low levels of radiation," said Richard Wakeford of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. "But the real problems ... are in dealing with the earthquake and the tsunami.
"If this was a developing country, we'd have people going down in their hundreds and thousands with the likes of typhoid and cholera by now. The questions should be: Where is the sewage going? What is the state of the drinking water? If I were a public health official, that would be my principle concern."
Ayumi Yamazaki, 21, is worried that her 18-month-old daughter is not getting enough to eat. "We rarely get to eat rice, so I'm a little concerned," she said. "But it's better than not eating at all."
Math teacher Naoshi Moriya, volunteering at the evacuation site's make-shift logistics office, said he's worried that it is only a matter of time before food runs out.
Despite the privations there's a sense of order in the evacuation center. In late afternoon, a neat queue forms in one hallway of the refuge shelter for men under 60 to collect clean underwear sent in through charity.
"Long-sleeve undergarments are reserved for the elderly," a volunteer who lost her home says, apologizing to one man.
Outside help is slowly and sparingly arriving.
A Self-Defense Forces truck carrying a fresh supply of water arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and two Red Cross teams arrived for the first time to treat patients.
Two soldiers picked through the rubble and placed personal effects such as photographs in a box so that survivors might be able to reclaim cherished memories.
"They belong to someone," said one. "You never know."
主站蜘蛛池模板： 中文字幕人妻色偷偷久久| 亚洲国产精品久久久久久| 色综七七久久成人影| 国产男女无遮挡猛进猛出| 99在线观看精品免费99| 成人a在线观看| 久久国产精品一国产精品| 极品少妇被啪到呻吟喷水| 亚洲日韩乱码中文无码蜜桃 | 久久久亚洲欧洲日产国码二区| 欧美V国产V亚洲V日韩九九| 亚洲欧洲日产v特级毛片| 激情伊人五月天久久综合| 免费看美女隐私全部| 一区二区视频在线播放| 无遮挡呻吟娇喘视频免费播放| 久久综合九色综合网站| 欧美丰满熟妇乱XXXXX网站| 亚洲欧美日韩综合久久久久| 特级毛片www| 你是我的女人中文字幕高清| 精品一区二区三区无卡乱码| 午夜精品久久久久久久久| 老师让我她我爽了好久动漫| 国产专区中文字幕| 91精品国产乱码在线观看| 天天视频国产免费入口| 一级一看免费完整版毛片| 成人国产永久福利看片| 中文字幕人妻偷伦在线视频| 日产亚洲一区二区三区| 久久久噜久噜久久gif动图| 日本精品在线观看视频| 久久精品中文字幕| 日韩精品无码一区二区三区AV | 久久精品一区二区三区中文字幕| 最新版天堂中文在线官网| 亚洲av无码欧洲av无码网站| 欧洲精品免费一区二区三区| 亚洲av本道一区二区三区四区| 欧美一级黄色片免费看|