Recently there have been some very powerful drops in Japan. One sort is making National news, the other sort made local news.
The National news is reporting very heavy rains in South Japan. From Okinawa to Kyoto, there have been daily rain falls of 350ml in some areas. Today the heaviest rains were around 40ml an hour. The sheer number of rain drops has started some catastrophic events. There have been land slides and flooding, and people have been washed away in swollen rivers. This is all just the beginning of the rain season, but Okinawa has received over half of its annual rainfall in the past month.
The have been so heavy due to the warm tropical westerly (from the west) winds that are blowing from South East Asia. This flow of air is occluding (when one front catches up to another…the reason it rains a lot in Vancouver too) with flows of southerly flows coming up off the Pacific Ocean. This mixture of warm moist air causes rain drop coalescence and strong winds. That has been your backyard meteorology lesson for today.
The other drops are of a much more solemn nature. I suggest if you don’t want to feel a little sad not to read on.
As I mentioned these drops are much more local. These drops are the tears of families in Nakano. Right here in my neighbourhood, Nangu. On Tuesday evening, around 5 o’clock, a second year student from Nangu Junior High School was on his bike. He was either headed to or from the tennis courts right near my house. He didn’t have his helmet on, and he apparently blew through a stop sign. He came out of a blind side street and was hit by a car. They did everything they could, but his injuries were too serious. He passed away within the hour.
Needless to say the people in my neighbourhood, and the staff and students at Nangu JHS are all pretty shaken up. Nangu is the school at which Brandon teaches. He knew the kid, and says he was a pretty good guy. Maybe not have been the best student, but he was still a good hearted little guy. Second grade JHS students are usually 13 or 14 years old.
We found out on Wednesday morning at Kousha JHS. The teachers were all pretty shocked, but they relayed that there have been a number of traffic accidents in Nagano recently. Apparently in another city a boy was hurt pretty badly in another traffic accident. I was pretty shocked. As I wandered around the school looking at the kids, I couldn’t help but think that they are just that, kids. I couldn’t imagine how I would react if that had happened to one of them. Brandon seems to be taking it ok, but I wonder how I would take it. My school is a third of the size, and it is such a tight knit community that I think something like that would be very traumatic for everyone.
I guess it is just another reminder that part of the beauty of life is how wonderful it can be, while being so fragile.
