As previously discussed ("Natural Disasters: Preparing for the unexpected," Oct. 2), Japan has been rocked this year with a number of natural disasters, primarily deriving from typhoons or heavy rains and flooding, which were further compounded by other man-made errors or natural complications to further devastate the country. Indeed, the scenes from some of the disaster areas remind one of the tragic aftermath of tsunami.
Like tsunami-struck areas, the restoration of services and the cleanup have taken a great deal of time, more than was expected, affecting those still living in the area and unfortunately leading to deaths that could have otherwise been avoided.
Volunteers have come out in fairly good numbers to assist, but the frequency of the storms and the large areas that have been impacted, in some cases one after the other, have limited the impact of these volunteer efforts or the speed in which the recovery takes place.