Jeri, there are a lot of heroes right now but I have to agree that those working at the nuclear plant rank very high.

Trust me, you are helping by being wherever you are. My only disappointment is Donuel who is running scared of the threat. I'm glad Wakana does not read the Mudcat because his posts would really bother her. He should leave scare-mongering to the Republicans. They are professionals and do it right.

It's important to remember what has happened. Japan is the most quake ready nation on earth. They have been visited by devastating quakes over and over. They have also been victimized by tsunamis. I read a story yesterday about a woman who lived in a town where they had annual tsunami drills. They had safe zones on high ground. When the sirens went off she went straight to the high ground and on to the higher ground beyond, turned and watched the wave sweep over the supposedly safe zone.

This disaster is unparalleled. Japan's earthquake measurement system only goes to 7. This measured 9! They prepared for the types of tsunamis they had seen in the past. These washed hospital patients out of the fourth floor of the hospital. The building stood but only those on the fifth floor survived!

The point is that you can prepare for the reasonable event but this goes beyond reasonable. The nuclear power station was protected from tsunamis and built to withstand earthquakes. It would have been safe from anything. But this was far and away much more than you could plan for.

As of this morning the death toll has hit 13,500 people and they expect it to keep climbing. This is the worst disaster to hit Japan since the Allies firebombed the Japanese cities. In terms of physical destruction (not loss of life) it is worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined with the added horror of nuclear fallout.

There is no way to understate the level of the disaster.