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By Qiu Wei in Niigata Energy shortages and bad weather Tuesday piled additional misery onto the disaster-stricken people of Japan's devastated northeast who are already short of water and food. "People are both physically and mentally exhausted," said Yasunobu Sasaki, the principal of a school converted into a shelter in Rikuzentakata, a nearly flattened village of 24,500 people in Iwate Prefecture, Reuters reported. The Japanese government has sent 100,000 troops to lead the aid effort. They have brought 120,000 blankets, 120,000 bottles of water and 110,000 liters of petrol, as well as food to the affected areas. However, road mobility has been further impaired due to a dramatic penury of oil and worsening weather conditions, following the closure of the region's railways and expressways. Signs of energy scarcity were apparent as most gas stations along the National Route 4 highway were closed. A few remained open but they were rationing their dwindling supplies. The manager of Kaminokawa gas station in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, which was in service Tuesday, said reserves had quickly vanished. "We don't cap the amount of refueling at our station. So, in less than 4 hours, motorists dried up our 20,000-liter tank," he told the Global Times. "I checked five other gas stations before I came here. This is the only one that has oil. The shortage brings a lot of hassle. It's been like this since Sunday," said Yuji Katayama, 43, an engineer in Tochigi Prefecture. Yet Katayama conceded that a possible nuclear leak was the major concern. "This is definitely a huge crisis. Japan has never come across such a nuclear emergency before. I know the government is already doing its best. But I hope they can do a better job to solve the problem," he said. Fresh troubles seem to be coming as rains, snow and freezing temperatures at night are hampering rescue operations. In the village of Hanokidira in Tochigi Prefecture, 200 rescuers, including Self-Defense Force personnel and government officials, dug out five bodies from the debris of houses flattened by a quake-triggered landslide. However, the operation was suspended as a drizzle increased the likelihood of more landslides, officials said. A total of 13 villagers from eight families were believed to have been killed in Hanokidira. "These latest (radiation) developments will obviously make the humanitarian effort more difficult," said Francis Markus, a spokesman for the International Federation of the Red Cross. Agencies contributed to this story |
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