To Japan quake survivors, temporary homes feel like heaven

[AsahinaKimi]

An evacuee walks outside temporary homes in Rikuzentakata, in northeastern Japan. Public and private groups worked together to build and furnish them in less than a month.

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Rikuzentakata, Japan— For Mika Terui, unit 5-2 of this devastated community's newest housing complex was home, finally home.

The 39-year-old mother of three felt like one of the luckiest survivors of the magnitude 9 earthquake and resulting tsunami that killed thousands of people and left many others homeless or languishing in evacuation centers.

A day earlier, she and her family of five had moved into one of 36 prefabricated temporary homes built on the playground of a junior high school, part of a public-private disaster relief effort in this ravaged community on Japan's northeastern coast.

The units, which resemble compact double-wide trailers, feature new appliances and two small bedrooms each. They are the first newly constructed homes to open in the region since the March 11 disaster, at a project cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-quake-housing-20110414,0,4059809.story

[Old and In the Way]

1. I appreciate your posts on Japan.

I know how deeply this must be effecting you and these are important stories for us on DU to read and remind us that the tragedy is relentless and far from over. It is good to see a positive step for the people in this region getting some order and hope back in their lives.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. I have family in Osaka

So of course I was most worried about them, however, they were not affected (yet) by the Tsunami or Earthquake. The Nuclear plant seems to be another issue all together. I hope that is resolved eventually. It seems like someone has a plan:

http://www.thejapannews.net/story/770529

[monmouth]

2. These would have been wonderful for the Katrina survivors. The

Japanese are such an awesome people, their ethic includes a big "We" not "Me"...God bless them.