Fear the Crab

I stayed up well past midnight, absorbing news of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan.  I mainly watched Al Jazeera’s live feed because local and national media are woefully biased and typically like to interject emotion into what should be an objective representation of events.  International news has its fair share, of course, but on the whole I find Al Jazeera to at least give me more fact than feeling.

Whenever the local media spoke to civil defense representatives, I’d unmute the TV and check for any updated alerts and tsunami warnings.  Eventually the station would start talking about historical tsunamis and how they affected the islands, or go on about the last tsunami warning generated by the Chile earthquake last year, news that’s totally irrelevant to the situation at hand.  At that point I’d switch back to Al Jazeera to learn about Japan.

In this day and age of instant video streaming, it’s a bit horrifying to watch disasters occur in real-time.  I saw people and cars fleeing from the onrushing tide of water and debris, and then the camera would shift to follow the tsunami, leaving the viewer to imagine the worst.

Now as things are settling more into damage control and rescue, more video and images are released.  Each new glimpse into the sheer level of destruction appears coupled with a story of rescue as survivors seek to reconnect with family, and each survivor has a tale of their own, how people they were with were swept away. Perhaps I’m now at an age where I start to appreciate these connections more, because such images and stories seem to have a greater impact on me.  I mean, this picture from In Focus really affected my “allergies.”

I texted REDCROSS to 90999 and donated $10.  It feels like it’s not enough, but I can’t afford more and have to content myself with the notion that every little bit helps, and collectively it stands to make some kind of difference.