Devastation first hand

If you know me you know I am not a woman of few words.  If you know me well you know I like to talk.  I have opinions and am not shy about sharing them.  This is important why?  I'm glad you asked.  I took the bus up north and was met by the leader of the volunteer group at the train station/bus stop.  He drove us through Rikuzentakata to get to Ohfunato where the base is. 

I am officially at a loss for words.  I first started seeing the debris up the river 9 miles away from the coast along the riverbeds.  The closer we got into town, the more we saw. 

I've never seen anything like this.  The whole downtown area near the ocean was flattened.  There were gouge marks on the side of one of the few remaining buildings where the water carried the debris 20+ feet high. 

Cars, buses, trucks, large equipment and such were tossed around, upside down, dented and destroyed.  Few buildings remain standing and those that are were hollowed out by the water.  I could see right through them through the curtains that some how stayed behind and were flapping in the wind.  Teddy bears, twisted metal beams, roof tiles, trees, telephone poles, clothing, bicycles and stop lights, you name it, it was strewn all over. 

I have nothing to compare it to other than a quiet hell. 

Then there were the crews.  Men were out shoveling dirt off the side walks that had been cleared by earlier cleaning crews.  The sidewalks had then been swept.  Except for the destroyed buildings on both sides of the street you'd never known just a day ago massive amounts of junk cluttered those same sidewalks.

Things that were washed out from inside buildings had already been sorted.  Appliances were in one area, books in another, wooden beams somewhere else, tatami mats stacked up neatly and placed on the sidewalks.  There is so much order here.  Seeing the devastation is one thing, seeing the patience and care by which this clean up process has already begun is yet another experience altogether.

I guess I'm find words after all.  I will keep sharing my thoughts, observations and feelings.