The Forgotten Ones

Since the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on March 11, the Japanese have been dealing with one disaster after another. The most powerful earthquake to ever hit Japan triggered a devastating tsunami that traveled as far inland as 6 miles. The tsunami severly damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant resulting in a nuclear disaster that is being compared to the Chernobyl one in 1986.

Stories relating to these topics appear in the world news every single day, but there is one story that is getting very little attention. Lost in the shuffle of all this calamity are the people that lived within the evacuation radius of the power plant.  These individuals have not only had their life turned upside down by the aforementioned earthquake and tsunami, but cannot even return to their homes now that the flood waters have receded.

Fisherman, and farmers are among the many groups of Japanese who have had their income effected. They've lost most of their possessions and now have lost their ability to provide for themselves. I agree that the priority for Tokyo Electric Power Co is to handle the reactor crisis, but it is imperative that they not forget about the people that have been directly effected by this. Financial compensations are most likely the answer, yet a process for assessing the value and distributing them would be lengthy. This dilemma is a difficult one but it is one that Tokyo Electric Power Co needs to address and it needs to be addressed sooner rather later so these people know they are not forgotten.