Tears twice in one day
It was hard to hold back the tears when I first arrived in the zone of total destruction. After about half an hour one just gets a little used to it and can see clearly the enormity of the project of trying to get back to something resembling normal life. There were so many heavy trucks and big Caterpillars busy working and yet despite 4 months of work they have mostly just succeeded in clearing debris into massive piles. Something like 7000 people died in this one neighbourhood. Zero houses are in liveable condition for several blocks in from the sea.
In the evening I felt like crying again when I discovered that my video camera must have dirty heads because none of the day's video was usable. :(
I'll be helping with the cleanup efforts in a couple days. We have to wear masks because of the hazardous material (like asbestos) that was so commonly used in the past. Please join the Canadian Green Party's campaign against asbestos.