Japan-The Day After..What Next

A day like yesterday definitely puts life into perspective.....or it should. While I am a HUGE sports fan, that is a luxury, a stress relief meant to make life more bearable. It is not life, it is not all defining, however it does help from a healing perspective, taking your mind off difficult times and can bring people together.

Right now I can not imagine how difficult life is for the people of Japan with what they are having to deal with today and moving forward. Yesterdays magnitude 8.9 earthquake and its 100's of aftershocks, the resulting tsunami with waves now reported to have been as high as 30 feet and a potential nuclear reactor meltdown on the horizon has to be creating a sense of uncertainty and despair. Loss of life can not be accurately determined at this point however there are a couple hundred confirmed dead with between 500-600 people at a minimum missing and this could rise when you factor in remote areas that have yet to be accounted for.

The tsunami washed away buildings and cars, destroyed farm fields and caused widespread flooding and damage. There was also a resulting whirlpool in one of the bays off of Japan where a ship was visible being pulled into the center. As of this morning there is at least 1 ship unaccounted for with over 100 people on board. The tsunami effects could be felt in Hawaii where there was minimal destruction although waves were reported as high as 8 ft. Also the western coast of the US was hit where a photographer taking pictures was pulled out to sea and perished. Another 4 people were also pulled out to sea but rescuers were able to get to them and prevent further loss of life. The remaining effects in the US appears to be limited to property damage including numerous boats and a harbor reportedly destroyed.

Back in Japan rescue and recovery efforts are under way and could take years to fully recover and understand the full scope, very similiar to Hurricane Katrina which has the US still feeling its effects. The wild card in all of this is the 2 nuclear reactors damaged by the quake and overheating, one of which reportedly is 1000x above normal levels. There is a high degree of probability that there will be a meltdown which would magnify the scope of this tragedy to astronomical levels. To put it into perspective the Chernobyl disaster in Russia is still 2+ decades later resulting in loss of life and has killed 10's of thousands. This in addition to the area remaining ininhabitable for the most part to date.

The Japanese people are an intelligent, resourceful and dedicated group that will use everything at their disposal to prevent this and/or minimize any damage. The US is also rushing coolant and nuclear experts to the area to aid in prevention and stabilization if at all possible. We can only hope that no further damage results as the Japanese people have already had to deal with nuclear horror in recent history, albeit at the time the best option on the table. However with what we know today it is a power not to be messed with or taken lightly. I am hopeful that evacuation efforts are underway in the area to minimize any loss of life.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan and anyone else affected by this tragedy. Hats off to all those aiding the rescue and recovery efforts, please stay safe!