It seems that some new housing has been built for evacuees on higher land farther inland from the coast.
Govt is giving them out on a lottery basis. Some families are reluctant to take them I heard because they have no income to support themselves once they have moved, what with fishing, farming and other jobs in coastal areas still not possible yet. So, if they move from the shelters there will be no more daily meals. Once relocated the govt is providing no more help. Others have moved in.
There are a lot of problems all along the coast with trying to clean up.It's going to take such a long time. Not just the endless rubble of cars and house parts and debris, but the tsunami also washed in fish and sea creatures that died and rotted and are now becoming a serious health hazard. One volunteer I spoke to recently said he had never seen so many flies. Now that it is heating up here and really humid, especially by the ocean, people are worried about bacteria, viruses and disease. Apparantly the smell of the air even wearing a mask is really, really bad. Volunteers are digging the sand sludge wearing masks and packaging it in large plastic industrial bags that are then tied and piled in a huge mountain but gases are still released even after being packaged and dumped.
People that lost homes are divided into 3 groups. Those that lost everything, those that lost half, and those that lost a small amount of possessions. These 3 categories are getting insurance money on a scale of 1,2,3. It is hoped that the money they are given will go back in to drive the economy; people spending on new furniture and goods..the insurance money has been paid out fast and has been very easy to get possibly for this reason, I've been told.
100 anti nuclear events were held today. It's 3 months today since the quake/tsunami/and first nuclear accident. In Tokyo 6000 demonstrators marched in an anti nuke parade. Right wing activists were there too and jeered at the marchers.
