I expect that the death toll will rise considerably from the current tally of a thousand. It’s clear that scores of square kilometers of built-up area along the coast were totally trashed by the tsunami, and anyone caught in those areas would probably die. Â Evacuation orders were given, but if less than 100% effective, that would leave large numbers at risk. Â On the news aerial pictures, one can see that some people were caught and washed away in their vehicles.
We haven’t heard if the wrecked train seen in the news was one of the two “not accounted for”. Â As for the lengthy stoppage of train services in the wider area, one can understand that they’d need to have every metre of track, bridge, overhead wire and tunnel checked by engineers just in case the earthquake had damaged something.
The explosion at the nuclear power plant will not be a surprise to those who have for years been warning about just this disaster scenario.
If some of the new season anime is a few days late, it’ll be because the producers are lacking electricity, or transportation, or generally have more pressing things on their minds.