Plywood is in Short Supply

Temporary Housing
25% of the plywood used in Japan is made in Tohoku, in the area where the earthquake happened. Suddenly plywood is in great demand! The whole construction industry is going into panic buying mode, each company buying up as much plywood as they can get their hands on. Without plywood, they can not finish the houses they are working on. The govt. is talking about quickly importing as much as they can get.

After the Kobe Quake, 16 years ago, it took 7 months to build all the temporary housing needed by the people who lost their homes. This came under a great deal of criticism. Soon after this quake, the govt. said that they wanted more than 30,000 temp. homes built within two months. In one small town, 36 temp. homes are ready. Yesterday they had a drawing. 18 of the tiny homes are for the elderly and 18 for the rest. There were 58 times more people applying for those 18 units!!

There are many problems with building the temp. homes. Finding enough flat land in each area that was not damaged by the tsunami is turning out to be a difficult task. Tohoku is very mountainous with little flat land except around the sea and port areas. Also, a plywood factory up north had all of its machines ruined. Their logs drifted all over the place in the tsunami. Workers with cranes are out in the debris, collecting as much as they can find. Many construction companies in Tohoku, first up to get these jobs, are finding that they have lost their tools as well, making it even more difficult if not impossible.

Life Lines
As of two days ago, the following services are up and running:

• Electric   96.7%
• Water     91.7%
• Gas         48%

Gas is lagging behind and many people are using portable gas cookers instead.

Supply Lines
Supermarkets are opening up for business again. Many Aeon branches (a huge supermarket chain found though out Japan) in the Tohoku area served as a refugee centers because of their huge available space. They are now ready to open for business again. The moment the quake hit, the company set up a earthquake/disaster committee in Tokyo to deal with the needs of those suffering and to get the right products in place for those in need. Many of the local store managers started giving away food immediately after the quake without waiting for word from the head office and were praised for doing so later by management. In one store, the manage gave away 2500 onigiri, rice balls, which the Japanese like to eat for a light meal. He gave away all the instant noodles and anything else that the people needed. He sleeps next to his desk and is first up in the early hours of the morning out taking care of the people still living in the store's plaza area.

Things like yogurt and natto (fermented beads) are in short supply. Not because milk or beans are not available. For example, with the blackouts that were happening last week, the yogurt makers did not have enough time to make the yogurt before the lights went out. They were afraid of the yogurt going bad. The natto makers had a different problem. The plastic sheeting used to cover the packages was in short supply and Japanese law says that all products must HAVE labels and expiry dates clearly listed. So the manufactures could not make anything for sale. But don't worry, they continued to make the natto (a very nutritional soy bean product) and sent all the packages up north to the quake hit areas as food. This was allowed by the Health Ministry!!

Bottled water is very hard to buy. Demand outstrips supply by 8 times. The govt. is thinking of importing lots of water. I haven't seen ONE bottle of water is a long time. Homes in the Kanto area around Tokyo can't be finished because plywood is in short supply as well as things like kitchens which are made in Tohoku.

The biggest water break in the world
Kamaishi has the biggest water break in the world. It is even a Guinness World Record! Well, as you all know, it failed. Bits and pieces of it can even be found here and there in Kamaishi port and on the shore. But, experts are now saying that because of the 63 meter (206 feet) deep water break, the town and the people in the town had an extra 6 minutes to escape. Also, the 63 m tall water break stopped a great deal of the tsunami from coming into the city, perhaps 40%.

The Mailman
The Japanese postal service is trying very hard to find people spread all over the countryside. Mailmen are now walking and riding their shooters over the debris trying to find people and to get their important mail to them. If someone is not in their home, they try to find out where they are and to get their letters to them.