The catastrophic disaster which struck Japan on 11 March made hundreds of thousands of people homeless in a matter of minutes. Such was the power of the initial earthquake and the tsunami it spawned.
But the evacuees from Futaba are different. Their homes were not damaged. They are still standing but were abandoned when residents were told to flee an invisible danger - radiation.
Most thought they would only be gone for a short time. Now it is becoming increasingly clear that they will not be able to go home for a very long time, if at all.
Futaba nestles in the shadow of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The facility was the region's largest employer, offering wealth to the town, job security to its people and assurances that the plant would be safe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12983554