Ofunato looked like a destroyed city. Rikuzentakata was wiped off the face of the Earth.
This was the real eye opener for me…
Gone. Apart from a small number of buildings on high ground the city was effectively annihilated. It was apocalyptic. Total. complete. comprehensive. Being directly on the ocean, the city bore the full force of the 35 meter high wall of water that broke land on March 11th 2011.
There is no bible basher on this earth who could conjure up an interpretation of their fantasy book’s Armageddon that could come close to seeing this kind of devastation in person. Nothing can prepare you for it. You can never un-see it. I was awestruck.
The pictures can’t give you a true depiction of the sheer scale of it. Your brain refuses to believe what your eyes are seeing. Sure human beings can do this. Ask the people of Baghdad, Stalingrad, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. but to lay waste to the entire North East coast of Japan in this manner, in a matter of minutes, is just mindboggling. While not quite the Total perspective vortex. You gain a sense of perspective that is lost in daily life.
to be continued…
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