Tohoku Trip 3 Post #4

During trip two Derick and I drove down the coast and passed through bay after bay of destroyed houses.  Fortunately for me we were driving in the dark and did not see the full impact as I knew my heart could not have handled so much in one trip.

This trip however was to be a prayer focus as we covered the same coast line – this time in broad day light.  We stopped at a few places and took time to pray as a team especially for those who were still trying to put their lives back together.

I am sure you have seen many such pictures but the impact of being there is greater than expected.

The journey continued mile after mile, bay after bay - a coastline completely changed in such a short time by one earthquake and a few tidal waves.  All in one day.

Here is the city of Rikusentakata – what is left of it. We spent a while in prayer here.  You can see the apartment building where up to the fourth floor is broken by the waves and only the fifth floor is unscathed.

Other than the buildings you can see in the first picture there is literally nothing still standing for  over a kilometer from the shoreline.  The picture on the right is looking to the left of the apartment buildings.

A whole city once stood here.  Once again – I had seen the video on You Tube of the wave arriving right where I was standing.  The video I feel that gives the best understanding of what happened is linked here.   If you are able to see this, notice  how many buildings there are the first time the camera sweeps round compared to when the camera comes back about two minutes later.

We did finish our trip and arrived in Ishinomaki to join Jack, Jason and the volunteers with J-Help.  It was good to bond together again and prepare for the next day’s work