After the Snowbound Weekend

It's been one week since we had much snow. All the transportation stopped, so we didn't have newspapers for four days or more. The shelves of the supermarkets were vacant. Schools were closed at least three days. Luckily the weather has been good this week, and the situation is getting better day by day. But even now there are places that don't have enough access.The school buses of the elementary school in this area won't move some more days.

The city recruited the volunteers to shove the snow off the roads to schools this weekend. People are busy to take care of their own houses and driveways, and tired these days, so I wondered how many would respond. But my son told us that more than fifty people went to the junior high school he is working and cleared the roads to the school in two hours.
We helped each other in the community, and the workers of cities and towns did good effort, I think.

But what did the governmement do? We saw nothing. It was after four days since the snowfall that Primeminister Abe said "Deal with it fast." Fast! Already isolated without food and medicine for days!

I noticed how fragile the system of our life is. Just a bit much snow than usual stopped everything. We depend on the things transported from far away; food, oil.

And one more thing. How hard and stressful days the victims of the disaster in Tohoku have been suffering, I can't even imagine. We knew the snow will stop and melt sooner or later. There were many people who stucked in the cars or trains for hours or for days. Many greenhouses were crushed, and it is serious. The damage from tsunami and radiation must be far more serious, we know.