Sunday 29 May 2011

And now a typhoon...

oops I mustn't have downloaded the picture... it's gone... but it was a typhoon that actually was no longer a typhoon by the time it reached Tokyo.

It has been raining for days....In the tradition of weather for the headlines, weather for the main, and weather for the weather in the evening news,  Friday night's NHK news was interviewing people in the street about how the rain in making it difficult to dry clothes, has resulted in sports cancellations, and is making people feel sticky on the subway etc.  
Typhoons usually come in September-October. It's very unseasonable. Usually typhoons this far north cause little damage, this time is is more of a worry than usual as the nuclear plant in Fukushima appears likely to get  heavy rains - and perhaps reasonably strong winds - a situation TEPCO doesn't seem equipped to deal with.  The lack of transparency from TEPCO is wearing very very thin.  Furthermore, saturated soil is never a good combination with earthquakes......

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you know...one thing has never ceased to amaze and puzzle me-in Saipan and in the western world we group typhoons into categories-I was the emergency Services Director for the Northern Marianas (Red Cross) for three years and a volunteer for many years before that so I know all about disasters...anyhow...when the storm gets to a certain level we worked together with the local Emergency Management and Police to make sure citizens STAYED HOME or in a safe location! for years-every time there is a typhoon in Japan I've seen people walking around the streets and many get hurt! Last night we watched as people were blown down and actually blown across the roads! Crazy! I wish the Japanese government would get a little organized in this area!! Sorry...had to rant here :)

Cecilia said...

That's really funny. In a black kind of way. They don't usually get very strong in Tokyo so I haven't really seen what you're talking about (I stay home!). There's no legislating for common sense...
There is a belief that you should be at work - perhaps based on Tokyo ideas of what is acceptable rather than Kyushu.
I agree very odd.