Onagawa and My Parents

March 12, 2011

To all my friends who sent me messages via cell phone, twitter, facebook and mixi, I appreciate your words of encouragement.  I am using “twitter” as my main communication, so please click on Here.

I did not always respond to each and every one of you, so I am going to summarize the current situation here on this blog.

1. I myself live in Zushi and currently my lifeline is stable.  I am also able to access the Internet without any problem.

2. My older sister lives in Sagigamori, Aoba-ku of Sendai city; she and her family are fine.  Her house is still standing.  They have not been quite back to a normal life, but are doing what they can together with their neighbors.  I felt at ease as I was able to speak with them over the cell phone.

3. As for my parents in Onagawa, I do not know whether they are alive and safe.
I still cannot get hold of them.  They do have a cell phone, but there are no signals for communication currently.  Even though the communication is back in place, it is possible that the battery may be low.  So I don’t think that I can make contact with them until they are found safe and rescued by the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) or other authorities.

Miyagi Prefecture per se is regulating the telephone lines.  I try not to use the telephone and keep the line open to those who need for emergency.  Anyway, the telephone at my parent’s has been washed away.  (Sad)

According to the television images that were taken from a helicopter, several large buildings such as Marine Pal and Chamber of Commerce are standing.  Further into the same street, I thought I saw a red-roofed building at the corner of the alley.  Yes, my parents’ house, Sasaki Portrait Studio.  I am not sure what I saw because it was instantaneous.  I thought I saw the red roof of my parents’ house.  The house, however, probably has been destroyed.
Even though the house might have gone, I am praying, “Please spare my parents.”

Onagawa is a town with a population of 10,000 and encompasses quite a large area.
My parents’ house is located in the center of the town and 50 m from Marine Pal.  It is less than 100 m away from the coast.  Izushima island that you heard on the news and where Onagawa Daiyon Elementary School and Onagawa Daini Junior High School are located is approximately 30 minutes away by boat.  We worry about people in this island who seem to be waiting for rescue; I don’t have any relatives there.  There is some distance between my parents’ house and the island.

To those who are watching the news and looking for relatives and friends in Onagawa, if you can contact me, I may be able to tell you where the shelters might be based on their addresses and which areas are likely to be damaged.

For now, I’ll talk about the current situation.

People in Onagawa, including my father, ordinarily have a mind-set that Earthquake equals Tsunami and many have experienced the tsunami from Chile Earthquake.  The geographical feature of the ria coast gives a disadvantage to the area as the waves rise higher.  However, the advantage is that this feature allows people to flee to the hills and mountains.  We can become hasty since we are only to wait and cannot contact our love ones at this time.  I think there may be many people who were able to evacuate before the tsunami struck.  Some villages might have faced more difficulty than others.  I cannot be sure as I am not an expert (on geography or seismic activity) and my words and expressions may not describe sufficiently.

I myself know what I should do now.
My husband and his family are supportive and I also feel reassured because of the ties with my friends through the Internet.

I don’t think that I am going to my parents’ house right now.  Sendai has been devastated as well and the road from Sendai to Ishinomaki or Onagawa has not been secured yet.  I know I will not be able to make the most of the trip.  I anticipate the rescue operations by the SDF.  When safety is ensured in the area, next week or the week after, I will go to Onagawa.

If you want to do something for me, please pray for safety of my parents.  Even though they were able to evacuate, they would be spending another lonely night in the midst of fluttering snowflakes.

Well, that’s it for now.  Thank you, all.