Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Looking back at our first trip to Japan PART 5

This next set of photos I took the morning after the earthquake and tsunami.  We had to spend the night in our rental cars on the hill because there was no way we were going to get out of there in the dark.  There was one other Japanese woman with us and we shared our food, water, toilet paper, and blankets with her, and ran the heat all night in our two Prius rental cars to keep warm.  That night it snowed and the temperature dropped, I can't imagine how cold people were who survived the water in the city, spending the night exposed to the elements.  We woke up at first light and evaluated our situation.  It was at that point that we started seeing people who had not survived, something I had never witnessed before, and I hope to never witness it again.  The water was still surging in and out 10-15 feet making it dangerous to walk anywhere near the shore.  The roads on both sides of us had been washed out and we made the decision to hike out through the mountains with the help of a firefighter who had returned to show us the way out.  The following pictures show the route we had to take on foot to get out of the city.  At times we were knee deep in sludge and water, there were no paths to follow, bridges had been washed out and we literally had to climb over the remains of a city.  There were constant aftershocks, and much of what we walked on had burned the night before leaving the ground smoldering hot and melting our shoes and boots.  We had to walk fast, and we saw very few survivors.  
I have one more set of pictures to post in the next day or so so please check back for updates.

Thank you so much to those who have made personal contributions to our campaign, we are so grateful for your generosity.  For those of you who wish you could go in person but are choosing to contribute to our campaign instead we pledge to work tirelessly when we are there, doing everything we can to expose this slaughter.  

Please remember to continue calling the Japanese embassy in your country, there is no limit to the amount of calls you can make.  

Marley and Carisa
Cetacean Defense League












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