I am very glad they were rescued..they were in a house and the boy made it to the roof. What I was trying to say is you are not going to find anyone in the actual mud at this point..still could find them in houses etc. Or there could be air pockets. But I would take people off of searching for bodies and still keep them searching buildings and even cars and boats...but main priority it seems has to be getting water to people..unless they do have snow..then get something to melt. Also there are lots of trees down..perhaps could be cut and made into bonfires outside shelters. I don't know. One man was shown freezing but sitting right next to a downed tree.

Also problems getting supplies are not necessarily roads..one shelter situation with elderly was helped by another nursing home in another part of state just chartering a couple of buses and taking in the elderly.

Food problems are exacerbated by trucks and drivers lost in tsunami. some roads are OK. There are lots of trucks and vehicles in Japan and lots of people can drive trucks and cars..you could pack a lot of medicine into cars and powdered food, peanuts etc.   Stuff is stuck in warehouses..good stuff. Gas is a problem but they say it takes so long for emergency vehicles to stand in line to get gas..why are they having to do that? Either put them to the front of the line or have certain stations reserved for emergency vehicles.

Also if cars are leaving with two people, give them extra gas for taking a refugee with them and taking out of the worst zones. They could drop at new shelters in better places.

I think that our mind's eye stays there are 40 foot chasms that must be lept to get some supplies in and only specially trained mountain goats can get there. Perhaps it is true but it sounds like that is not the main obstacle..and then you get to the 40 foot chasm and here is where the bamboo bridges come in again..or something..I really don't think this is the case..probably more just breakage etc.

Can they drill for water in some places?

Is there now rain?

Can buckets etc. be dropped? Sometimes it is not the water but the container..they have plastic bladders for this too..perhaps the water situation has been solved by now. mg