Saturday April 9 Rest Home and devastation

Thank God for power and water back at 3 am. However it rained all night and is still light rain this morning. But situation stable enough to plan assistance runs with Jeff and Hiro and the two vans from Osaka. Packed vegetables, whole cabbages and green pumpkins, cooking kits, socks and underwear, rubber boots to take to Kitakami River area. Brought blankets, towels, adult diapers, personal hygiene kits, and apples for the old folks home.

As we approached the river, began to have detours due to the river highway being washed out in places. Construction crews at work repairing the washed out embankments and building temporary detours. Found long, narrow community along the river and laid out tarp in post office parking lot. Parking lot thin coating of mud, but rain almost stopped.

Wondered if people would come out in the rain, but as soon as we started laying stuff out, they started lining up. Managed to keep the mud off the tarp and the supplies. Somehow I got hooked up with the giant roll of heavy blue tarp and the knife when the word got out that “blue sheet” was available. Pretty soon I had a line of people 20 deep waiting for tarp for their damaged roofs. When the last person had their tarp I looked up and everything else was gone and they were cleaning up the empty boxes and packages.

People looking where their house used to be.

On downriver to the area where the rest home was. Road washouts and severe damage to infrastructure and power poles, etc. Destruction of houses now near total. Boats, huge trees, broken houses scattered in the mud. Started down one road but saw morgue/health detail removing bodies from a house. Went back to the previous road and made our way to the rest home.

Tsunami had come just to the edge of their parking lot, floated 7 random cars up against the bank and then receded. We carried in the blankets, etc. And yes, we did give the lady back her clothes. Stayed and talked with the residents—very informal. . .and talked and talked. They tried to get us to stay for dinner.

A granddaughter was visiting for the day. Some of her family’s cows had washed away; the rest had mud stains up past their bellies. School graduation had just been held and what should have been a celebration had been traumatic as many classmates and teachers had drowned. Drove back toward the sun beginning to set among wispy rain clouds.