Disaster in Japan gets local attention

The news of the devastating earthquakes in the north of Japan had some local residents paying attention to the island nation Friday morning.

Kazuo Iida is living in Blytheville with his wife as an employee of the Japanese partner company to Nucor, Yamato.

According to Iida, it is currently impossible to reach any family in Japan because all telephone lines are busy, so they know nothing more than what they are able to see on the news. He stated, however, that his family, and those of the other local Japanese employees of the company, are living in the western part of Japan, which is not near the quake's epicenter.

"Japan is very prone to earthquakes,"said Iida, "and our country has spent a lot of money, and are well prepared to deal with this type of situation."

Iida hopes to be able to contact his family within the next few days.

Melissa Andrew, business manager at the Courier News, heard Friday morning from her son, Jonathan Andrew, who is currently stationed in Okinawa with the United States Air Force.

According to the message, everything is stable and under control at the U.S. bases in Okinawa, and the military there has been completing evacuations.

sharris@blythevillecourier.com