At least 305,000 people have been evacuated and the number is still rising, writes LINDSAY WHIPPin Ofunato
THE STAGE at the back of the large hall, the grand piano and scatterings of slightly uncomfortable metal-framed chairs are some of the few reminders that Kita primary school in Ofunato in the northeast is an educational institute.
But now this hall is home to 350 victims of the huge tsunami that ripped half the city to shreds last Friday. Families huddle together on futons, a group of men sit talking round a warm stove and other evacuees are wrapped up in blankets trying to sleep.
It would not be so problematic if this was the only shelter necessary in this small city of 42,000 people in the Tohoku region. But nearly a fifth of the population is living in a school or public building and there is no timetable for when central government money will arrive so temporary housing can be built.
NHK, the public broadcaster, estimates about 305,000 people have been evacuated across the Tohoku and Koshinetsu regions – and the number is still rising daily owing to the rescue effort. Some are only living in shelters until electricity and running water return, while others are simply too afraid to live at home.
Yasuko Ninuma (73), was lucky enough not to lose her house as it is located further up the hillside from the port. However, the fish processing factory where she worked was engulfed by the tsunami and living alone she was too scared to go back. Instead she sleeps alongside two other pensioners.
“My house was a mess after the earthquake and I was terrified that another earthquake would come,” she says, her voice muffled by the ubiquitous mask that many Japanese people wear when they have a cold or want to avoid getting one. “I’m too scared to go home.”
The weather has made a marked turn for the worst with bitter winds and heavy snowfall and one woman in one of the shelters had already caught flu.
There are also concerns in the broader region about access to heating fuel due to shortages. This is not only testing the strength of the evacuees, it is also testing the local government who want to make life closer to normal for all these people.
The Iwate prefectural government suggests that the displaced people can be moved to old people’s homes. “My biggest worry is the children, some of who are really unsettled because of the earthquake and tsunami, they’d never experienced anything like it,” says Kiyota Yamaguchi, deputy director of Ofunato’s education commission. He has organised counsellors for the children.
While the Kita primary school itself is warm, with plenty of blankets and three meals a day, Mr Yamaguchi has broader worries about the displaced residents and their ability to maintain their mental and physical health.
Having spent the first day or two absorbing the extent of the earthquake and tsunami, the Kita primary school evacuees are now trying to collect as much information as they can to find missing friends and family, said Hiromitsu Kinno (47), the representative of the shelter.
He addresses the evacuees intermittently using a megaphone. Though he lost his house and half his office in the tsunami, he says he wants to alleviate the fears overwhelming many of these residents.
Sueko Hamano, whose house is uninhabitable and whose husband is unemployed, has her own coping mechanisms. “When I think about everything we have to do to get our lives back together, I just get so stressed,” she says, sitting on a futon in the middle of the vast hall between her two children. “It doesn’t do to cry because I have children to look after.”
The resumption of electricity should enable some families to return home. However, there was still no running water and mobile phone connection.
Like many others, including Mr Kinno, Ms Hamano does not expect to leave for a while, but she says: “Everyone has their own difficulties, we can’t expect them to keep on helping.” – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)