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New Crisis at Nuclear Plant; Tsunami Warning System; Japan: Before and After

Aired March 14, 2011 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: It is just about 3:00 a.m. Tuesday in Japan, where fears of a nuclear meltdown are only part of the national nightmare.

Japan is now asking for U.S. help to head off a third explosion or worse in a building housing a nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, some 40 miles south of Sendai.

The first blast happened Saturday. You can see the smoke there. The latest happened just hours ago, injuring workers, knocking out the cooling system for another reactor that had been mostly unscathed.

Right now workers are scrambling and failing to keep fuel rods submerged in seawater. And officials warn meltdowns are possible now in all three reactors.

We'll get much more in a live report straight ahead.

Elsewhere, the focus is people, finding them, saving them, feeding them, reuniting them. It's being done with boats, helicopters, even on bicycles, whatever way they can. This man has been riding from one emergency shelter to another in search of his wife.

Officially, 3,002 Japanese are unaccounted for, 1,897 known dead. But that does not count 2,000 bodies reportedly found Monday alone in a single prefecture. Still, survivors who have nothing else are refusing to let go of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm looking for my daughter. Our home is gone, so she wouldn't know where to go. As other family members are safe, I only hope my daughter is alive somewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And sometimes hope is fulfilled and nothing else matters. This is a different woman and child reunited in northeast Japan.

Right now I want to get the latest on the nuclear crisis. And CNN's Stan Grant is watching all of that for us from Tokyo.

Stan, any change in the status of those fuel rods?

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, as you've been outlining, it's been an extraordinary day here, hasn't it? We've seen new twists and turns in this nuclear emergency. We're really sort of going into uncharted territory, as you outlined there.

There was that hydrogen explosion in the number three reactor, or at least in the building that houses the number three reactor. It didn't affect the reactor as such, but blew a hole in the wall and then affected the cooling system in number two. And that's where the focus has really been.

The fuel rods in the number two reactor had been dangerously exposed, leading officials to say that they can't rule out the prospect here or the possibility of at least a partial meltdown in that reactor as well. Now, they're trying to pump seawater into there to try to cool it down.

And then another extraordinary twist, the water pump ran out of fuel because of human error, and that interrupted that process. There is so much steam in there, that the water is vaporizing and those levels are continuing to drop, and the fuel rod continues to be exposed.

So this really is an ongoing effort on multiple fronts. And also now, the radiation levels, we've been hearing, spiked earlier today in the plant itself. It reached a new high. In fact, twice as high as the previous highest recorded, dropped back very quickly after that. But once again, that's cause for concern, especially when you have 200,000 people who have been evacuated from their homes in the surrounding area -- Randi.

KAYE: Sure. So I want to get back to these fuel rods, because for those of us who aren't experts at this stuff, why is it so dangerous if these rods are exposed?

GRANT: Well, that's when you get into the situation of leading to a meltdown.

Now, these rods sit inside the casing. The casing protects them. Outside of that, there is another what they call containment vessel. There is another layer of protection, and then you have the building itself.

But the fuel rods inside, that's the core of the reactor. And when you hear people talking about a meltdown of the core, that's what they're talking about.

Now, they need to be able to keep the water pumped in there to keep these fuel rods cool so it doesn't disintegrate even further. Now, if you get that further disintegration, what they would hope for then is that the various layers of containment are at least able to capture the radioactive fallout and not allow that to go into the atmosphere. But cooling those fuel rods is essential -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes. And just real quickly, with the radiation levels up now, as you just said -- and we also heard from our Elizabeth Cohen on that -- are they handing out this iodine, still? Any further precautions on that?

GRANT: Well, that's been the plan. They've had this precaution in place now to hand out iodine to people. And, of course, iodine would work to ward off the impact if you came in contact with any of the contamination. Particularly true of the thyroid.

They've also got this exclusion zone. Two hundred thousand people have moved away, as I say.

So, those precautions in place. But we must mention that officials have stressed throughout that the levels have not been at that point to be able to cause harm to human beings. But, of course, it's an ongoing procedure, and people have their causes for concern, and their worries and their fears -- Randi.

KAYE: All right. Stan Grant, we'll leave it there. Thank you, Stan.

And now I want to bring in Chad Myers.

Chad, explain to us, if you can, how the nuclear reactor is actually supposed to work and what isn't working so well.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We talk about the heat that we're worried about. That heat actually is the part that we want when we make power. It's the heat just like in a coal-fired power plant, you might have some coal down here and you burn the coal, and you steam water, you boil water off.

That boiling water has high pressure. That high pressure runs through a turbine. And then the generator generates power that goes to your house.

Well, what happens after it hits this, it cools back down, that water does, that steam, cools back down. It cools because they're pumping other coolant through it. And then it cools back down to water, comes back through the reactor, and it boils again. This happens over and over and over and over, and everything works fine until you stop that from happening.

When you don't cool the water anymore, and you're not running things anymore -- this all failed because of a series of things that went wrong. First of all, the earthquake shut it down. That was right. That was what was supposed to happen.

But there were generators outside, 13 of them, that were supposed to keep this water going. They got flooded in the tsunami.

KAYE: In the tsunami. OK.

MYERS: Oh, whoever thought we'd have an earthquake and tsunami to kill all of them?

Then there were eight sets of batteries that were supposed to keep this thing running for eight hours. Well, it did for a while, but the batteries ran out. Right?

KAYE: Sure.

MYERS: So, they put new batteries in, and at some point in time this all could get so hot if, just like on your car -- you take all the radiator fluid out of your car, go on the highway and drive, and see how long it will take before your engine and your car melts down.

KAYE: Yes. That's not going to be so good.

MYERS: Same idea. This is like the coolant in your radiator.

KAYE: So those are the rods that Stan was just talking about.

MYERS: And if they get too hot, they will melt, and that will be a reaction that you cannot overcome. Even if you pump more water in it, you'll just make more steam. The steam they've been venting, you saw what happened when they put the steam. It made hydrogen.

KAYE: Right.

MYERS: Water, H2O. The H went boom, the hydrogen, like the Hindenburg. That's basically what they had in two of those small explosions, but they were there.

They need to get -- what they're doing now, taking water from the ocean and dumping it right straight in here.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Well, because this isn't even working anymore.

MYERS: It's not working.

KAYE: OK.

MYERS: Not even worrying about this at all. They're dumping just water right from the ocean in there --

KAYE: Directly.

MYERS: -- and letting it vent out. And the steam is where this radiation is coming from.

KAYE: And for anyone at home wondering, well, why are they letting this out if it's not good? They have to. Right? Otherwise, boom.

MYERS: It's up to, like, eight atmospheres worth of pressure. And eventually, the whole thing could go boom. So they vent it out slowly. Some radiation comes out. Put more water in, some radiation comes out.

KAYE: So they have to.

MYERS: This might take three months to cool this down. This isn't just going to go away on Tuesday. This is going to take a very long time for these rods that haven't melted to cool down for real.

KAYE: All right. That was a great explainer.

MYERS: Well, it kind of looks like a cartoon.

KAYE: No, really. I mean, it helped make a lot of sense.

MYERS: But it works.

KAYE: Yes. I'm a little worried about your artwork over here, but other than that, it was very helpful.

Chad Myers, as always, thanks.

MYERS: Sure.

KAYE: This disaster in Japan is beyond comprehension. Husbands continue to search for wives, mothers continue to search for their children. We hear from the Japanese people themselves right after this very short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A school in a section of Sendai, Japan, is still standing. It's become, actually, a makeshift shelter. People are gathering there looking for loved ones.

One of them, a man desperately searching for his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Many people rush to the school looking for family members. They look through the roster of evacuees in the staff room of the school, looking for the names of their family members.

This man says that his wife is missing. She was at work near the airport. He says he knows where his children are, but his wife has not been found yet.

The man went from classroom to classroom looking for information about the whereabouts of his wife. This woman asks him is if he has looked downstairs. He says he has.

This woman said that she tried to visit and look for neighbors, but she did not have enough time to look for his wife. She apologizes to the man. They encourage one another.

The man could find no information related to the whereabouts of his wife. He decided to wait for his wife to contact him at their relative's house.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: So many incredible stories. Millions of people in Japan got a tsunami warning after the earthquake, but imagine if they had received that warning much sooner. Coming up after this short break, we take a look at a new system that could save many lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Entire villages are wiped out in Japan. People are still missing, and many survivors are without food or shelter after that massive earthquake and tsunami.

Updating our top stories now. It is 2:15 here on the East Coast, 3:15 a.m. in Japan.

There's been another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant. This time, at the building housing reactor number two. The blast was caused by a buildup of hydrogen and damaged the containment building and the cooling system at the plant. Officials say they are not ruling out the possibility of a meltdown at all three reactors at the plant.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Libyan opposition leaders in Paris today. Clinton is in the French capital for a group of eight diplomatic meetings. G-8 discussions will include the possibility of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya.

Congress is trying to reach another temporary budget agreement to extend government funding and avoid a shutdown. The current agreement expires Friday. If Democrats and Republicans can agree on a new package of interim spending cuts, the new extension would run three weeks, until April 8th.

The force of a tsunami is hard to fathom. This is video from the tsunami that hit northern Japan. There is nothing quite like the power of water.

As you watch that roll through, it tosses cars, buildings, and highways around as if they're children's toys. You can see the power of it even in the video.

One of the major problems with tsunamis is how unpredictable they can be. A new warning system called RTerg has been developed by seismologists at Georgia Tech, here in Atlanta. Now, this technology is just in the research stage, but it has the potential of saving many people's lives by giving them more time to get out of the way.

And joining us live right now on the phone is Andrew Newman. He is a researcher and professor at Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Andy, glad you're with us. Let's start with this RTerg system. Explain, if you could, how it works.

ANDREW NEWMAN, PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH'S SCHOOL OF EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES: OK. So what we do is we actually get the first information warning from tsunami warning centers to let us know that an event has occurred. And what we do is we actually look at the energy that comes from earthquakes at seismometers all across the globe.

So, at any one time, we can record up to 100 to 200 seismometers. So, from the seismometers, we actually calculate the energy at those stations and backtrack it towards the earthquake.

So, what we do is we identify how much energy comes off those earthquake and how long it takes for that energy to grow. And we actually look at the ratio of those two parameters to identify some events that are particularly effective at creating tsunamis. And these are actually what we call tsunami earthquakes, which is actually a little bit different than even what we saw in Japan. That's just a really big earthquake that created a tsunami.

KAYE: So, it's pretty high-tech, pretty scientific. But, really, the question is, how quickly are you able to get the warning out to people with this system?

NEWMAN: Well, it depends on where you are, where the earthquake is, and where the seismometer is. And also, because this is in research mode, we're a little bit slower than we would if you (INAUDIBLE) warning system. But usually our early information, we can get within six minutes of an earthquake. Now, that's actually longer than some of the very preliminary information that you get from an event, but this actually gives us more information about the earthquake source.

KAYE: So, just to be specific, how much time can you actually shave off then for people in order to save them time, do you think?

NEWMAN: Well, I mean, we can take you in a little more time off if we had it very rapidly. We could probably get results out in four minutes if we had optimal -- if we had just the perfect stations in the right spot.

KAYE: So, if you compare that to the current warnings, and how long they take, how significant is your technology?

NEWMAN: So, the warning information that we give is actually more useful for identifying specific earthquakes. And so this gives us better earthquake information rather than just an initial assessment of just size. So, it's not really so much the speed, it's actually the speed for evaluating certain earthquakes, particularly like the one that hit Sumatra last year.

KAYE: And we know it's in the research phase, as you've said, but any idea when you might expect it to get to the market?

NEWMAN: Well, we do have this code up and operational at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, and they are currently testing it as well. It depends on exactly how the different warning centers feel about implementing it, but I'm hopeful this year, maybe this summer.

KAYE: It's really amazing stuff, and certainly when you see what's gone on in Japan in recent days, and you see how desperate those people are, and how many of them really didn't get away after the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. It sounds like you're working on some pretty fascinating and much-needed technology there.

Andy Newman, appreciate it. Thank you.

NEWMAN: Thank you.

KAYE: Well, it is just a few minutes before 3:30 in the morning in Japan. We have some remarkable before-and-after imagery coming into CNN. And Chad Myers will have that for us in two minutes, so stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Scenes like this, playing out over and over in Japan. Rescue teams assist one elderly survivor with her life vest. You can see there as they prepare to move her to much safer ground.

With rolling blackouts affecting electric service across Japan, cold weather is adding to the misery.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAYE: When we talk about a tragedy like this, I hate to use the word "cool," but there is something that you have, and I know you can show us, some before and after which is cool if it wasn't so sad.

MYERS: Well, GOY (ph) and Google have put this together for us, and they have lined up pictures from when they had flyovers earlier, before the earthquake and tsunami. A lovely area, walk out to the beach, a little bit of a coastal area. And then all of a sudden, after the tsunami, I can count maybe on two hands -- there might be 10, literally 10 buildings left here. And this is the area that's well east of Sendai, right along the coast.

Now we're going to go to the airport. And we've seen pictures out of the airport, literally video with people standing in the walkway here by the jetways --

KAYE: Oh, look at it.

MYERS: -- with water running over the runway, water getting into the jetways.

KAYE: Gone.

MYERS: And literally. The airport structure here is still standing. Everything under the structure is completely gone. There's nothing left under there. All that support to getting planes in and out of the airport, completely gone as well.

Moving you to Natori, to the top right-hand part, would be where the ocean is. Here is where the tsunami would have come down this way. There's a couple of buildings here, some type of industrial structure here. KAYE: Yes. This was all full of buildings before.

MYERS: Yes. Right. Exactly.

And now Ishinomaki, the coast being off to the right. All the buildings, and they are literally gone. This can only be described as what we saw in Rita, what we saw in Katrina, and, of course, what happened with 230,000 people losing their lives in Banda Aceh.

KAYE: And you look at this and you really can't be surprised, because, I mean, you certainly know more about the speed of that water than I do, but this thing was coming pretty fast, like the speed of a jetliner.

MYERS: Yes. It slows down when it gets into the shallower water, and that's where the energy gets higher and higher, so the wave gets bigger and bigger.

And the knockdown of buildings here, and even the structures that are still standing, were not on stilts. Right? If the water could go under the building, the building would still be standing. But every building here was cemented to the ground and just washed away.

And you can see the damage, you can see the debris. I saw Gary Tuchman standing right on a street. You couldn't even tell it was a street.

KAYE: Right.

MYERS: To the sides were 2 x 4s, and just going every direction. All of those pieces were somebody's home or building, and now they're just pieces.

KAYE: It's amazing how it works though, because then there's this random house on the corner that, structurally, looks fine, but is destroyed inside.

MYERS: There's nothing inside.

KAYE: Yes. All right. Very interesting shots. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure, Randi.

KAYE: Their homes are gone, as we just saw, food and water are scarce, and the ground, still rumbling beneath their feet. Scary times for quake survivors in Japan. That's an understatement. And then there's that nuclear crisis.

An update, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It's half past the hour and 3:30 in the morning in Japan where survivors of Friday's quake and tsunami are facing one scare after another after another. Aftershocks continue to rock the main island of Honshu. Today alone there were 22 of them, all magnitude 5 or greater.

That's put rescue crews at risk as they pick through mountains of debris looking for signs of life. The latest confirmed death toll, according to Japanese officials is 1,897. But local media reports say thousands more bodies were found today in one prefecture alone.

Fears about a possible nuclear disaster are growing. At one plant in particular, an explosion in one of its reactor buildings injured 11 people today. There was a blast at a separate reactor building over the weekend, and now a third reactor is at risk of a meltdown after water that was cooling nuclear fuel rods evaporated. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says Japan has asked him to send a team of experts to help manage the crisis.

Japan's central bank has taken steps to avert a financial crisis, announcing plans to pump more than $180 billion into the economy. That did not reassure investors, though. Tokyo's Nikkei closed down more than six percent.

Now to other stories we're following. The floodwaters have started to recede in parts of northern New Jersey, swamped by days of heavy rain. But some folks are still sloshing around. High waters is still a problem in the cities of Wayne and Patterson. Some major roads are still closed today and may be through tomorrow, according to emergency officials.

The death toll has risen to 15 in that horrible bus crash over the weekend in New York. A 70-year-old man is the latest to succumb to his injuries. The accident happened early Saturday as the bus returned to the city from a Connecticut casino. Surviving passengers say the driver had been swerving all over the road prior to that crash.

And State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has sketched down. The abrupt resignation came after some controversial comments he made about Wikileaks suspect Bradley Manning. Sources tell CNN the White House was furious over the suggestion that Manning's being mistreated in military custody. Crowley's comments came last week while he was speaking at MIT.

They may be fighting a losing battle, but Libyan rebels are still fighting, and they want more than moral support from the West. We'll bring you the war from both sides when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the bread store. Pretty much sold out of everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: This is video one cc CNN iReporter was able to capture in a grocery story in Yokohama, Japan where shelves quickly emptied.

And this is in Sendai, Japan. Survivors waiting in long lines that stretch for blocks, hoping for food, water and gasoline.

We're getting in more evidence of the wrath from Friday's tsunami.

(VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: This is about three miles from the Pacific Ocean. Local officials say about half of its population is unaccounted for. Rescue officials are doubtful anyone survived. Countrywide, officials say at least 3,002 are still missing, and we expect the number to climb.

At least 450,000 are living in shelters. CNN's Kyung Lah reports some learned their homes are destroyed after seeing before and after photos in the newspapers. I'm joined now by CNN's international anchor Isha Sesay. And Isha, great to see you as always. Talking about this, the video we've been watching, is really incredible. But now the weather is apparently hampering the search for survivors.

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Absolutely. It's very, very cold in Japan right now. You had Chad Myers talking about that just a short time ago, how they expect temperatures to plummet even further, below freezing come Wednesday. And rescuers are really dealing with the elements such as the weather and the fact that some of these areas they're trying to access -- I mean, look at these images, Randi. I mean, can you tell where the roads begin, roads end? You just can't.

You see everything has just merged into one big heap. Cars thrown on the sides, houses, some randomly standing and longing relatively intact, and others just decimated. Rescuers have to contend with trying to negotiate these elements and going door to door as well as dealing with the fact we keep getting these aftershocks, which is really making things very, very difficult. We saw the number, something like 15,000, people have been rescued so far.

KAYE: Which is actually great news, considering when you hear about (INAUDIBLE), which I think is a town of about 8,000, and 9,500 people are missing.

SESAY: Absolutely. But we are also hearing that as they go door to door, when they can make progress and proceed in these really clustered areas, they're finding a lot of dead bodies. That is just the reality. This water hit so quickly, and it was so large a swath of water that it has claimed many, many lives. So, even though they found 15,000 people, 450,000 are in shelters. And the death toll right now is still just under 1,900. We expect that number to rise. We hope that they'll be able to find many, many more people alive. But the elements are proving very, very challenging.

KAYE: yes. I should say, by the way, the population was 18,000 and , 9,500 still missing. Let talk about the shelters because they can't have a lot of food or water or much left for these people who were lucky enough to survive.

SESAY: Absolutely. And we have seen iReporters sending in the images of the shelters and supermarkets in places like Tokyo where the shelves are bare. There is nothing to get out of these places. Water is running low, and basic necessities are running low.

So, in the shelters, as you see the pictures there, it is a scene of hardship. Things are running out, and people are lucky to be alive. But they're now enduring a whole different set of difficulties there in the shelters. In such large numbers, Randi.

KAYE: Yes. It's amazing. I know we were watching on the special that CNN had last night, watching these people come back to their neighborhoods and try to see what's left, get whatever belongings they can. It just breaks your heart.

SESAY: It really does. We saw the piece with Sanjay Gupta, where he is walking down the road. And as he said, some houses are standing intact and others are just crushed. You see the memorabilia of life. You see kids' toys. You see coloring books. You see --

KAYE: Things you save forever and grandchildren who can know who they are and who you were, and now all of it is gone.

SESAY: Gone in a minute. That's how it felt.

KAYE: Let's turn to Libya. We're also keeping an eye on that. Gadhafi's forces apparently giving the rebels a pretty good run for their money now.

SESAY: Absolutely. No doubt about it. As we speak to our people on the ground, the momentum appears to be firmly with Gadhafi and his forces, who are rapidly trying to reclaim the territories they lost to opposition fighters.

And we saw yesterday the news coming in from state TV that they had retaken Brega. That was the latest that we had heard. We hear that they continue to try to make progress. Benghazi, which is, now seen as the rebel stronghold, the capital of their operations if you will, the rebels still hold that. But Gadhafi's troops, we heard some say Gadhafi said last week that they were coming. That they were coming, and they were coming to reclaim all that territory.

The opposition, as it stands now, you have spoken to enough people on the ground to know that they're lacking the equipment, lacking the know-how to take on Gadhafi and his well-trained fighters.

KAYE: What about the Arab League calling for the no-fly zone?

SESAY: The Arab League has called for the no-fly zone. It says there's not opposition to that, but they wanted United Nations to make their move, to go ahead and declare one. Then there are other issues of imposing it, of course.

The problem is we already know that China and Russia, that are members much the permanent security council, have already said they're in opposition to a no-fly zone. So that in itself causes problems. So the debates, discussions, they continue, while the opposition on the ground there, Libyans say you need to move this along. We need the help.

KAYE: And the rebels want the no-fly zone.

SESAY: Indeed. They need the help, indeed.

KAYE: We don't want to let you go before we talk about Bahrain.

SESAY: Yes. We are seeing on escalation in tensions and protests there in Bahrain. A situation that started in February and claimed the lives of scores of people has once again taken another turn. We saw on Sunday that at least 1,000 people lost their lives there. There were at least three separate protests taking place. Tear gas was used. A lot of consternation there in the streets.

Now what we have is troops from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is a military as well as security alliance -

KAYE: Foreign security.

SESAY: Indeed, for Gulf states. They have now sent in troops, a number of them from Saudi Arabia. They are there, we can only assume, to help keep the peace because Bahrain is strategically important. It is it a financial hub there in the Gulf.

People say countries like Saudi Arabia that have a Shiite minority in the east part of their country are looking at Bahrain that has a Shia -- a large number of Shia living in that country and are looking for this kind of reform. They're looking at it and worried that that kind of thing would play out in Saudi Arabia. It's very, very complicated and a lot happening. But we're watching it all.

KAYE: I'm sure you are. And we got through it all, didn't we?

SESAY: We did! I don't think I took a breath there.

KAYE: You can take a breath now, and take a break.

We're actually going to take a very quick break, too. Japan is a country in crisis and a country in need. As they reach out, how the U.S. and the rest of the world are offering more than just money, after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: An intense moment.

(VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Survivors shouted down to rescuers below that someone is trapped in a vehicle. Rescue crews were able to safely pull this elderly man from the wreckage. You can see it happening there. He is one of the many victims in the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged region. One of many lucky survivors.

The death toll is growing in Japan as rescuers race to dig out survivors clinging to life amid the rubble. And now another catastrophe. Just hours ago, a second reactor lost its cooling ability after another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. More than 200,000 people who live near the plant have been ordered to leave.

They are seeking shelter anywhere they can. Our Sanjay Gupta takes us inside a school being used to house many of those refugees.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people have been told to evacuate as a result of these concerns about radiation. Add that on top of, obviously, so many people's homes being destroyed as a result of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

This is one of the largest sort of makeshift refugee camps, just sort of came together over the last few days. And this is something that people here in Japan know. Schools are typically built at higher elevations than many other buildings and the building codes for schools are often stricter. They're more earthquake-resistant and also become an immediate place for refugees in the aftermath of something like this.

So hundreds of people have been coming into this particular part of the school, this gymnasium. They say anywhere around 700 people in this particular area. Now more people in other parts of the school, and this is quickly becoming one of the largest refugee areas as a result.

It's very cold outside, so people who are displaced as a result of this mandatory evacuation. Onagola 15 kilometers from here, people from Onagola have made their way to this area. That's sort of the consequence of all of these different activities, all of these different tragedies over the last several days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Japan has now made a formal appeal to the United States for help with its crisis. The U.S. and countries around the world are already reaching out and it's not just money and rescue crews being sent. Aid is taking many forms. CNN CNN's Carl Azuz is here.

CARL AZUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of rescue crews are getting creative. A Los Angeles fire official just returned from Christchurch New Zealand, he's headed to Japan, and he's saying this disaster for Japan was part Katrina for the flooding, part Christchurch, New Zealand for the earthquake, and taking lessons learned from Haiti as well.

Let's look at ways countries are helping. Countries are sending dogs, sometimes from halfway around the world, Germany and Britain, and these rescue dogs are able to differentiate between live and dead bodies and help rescuers pinpoint where survivors are.

Also, clinics are coming in. You saw the need for them in Dr. Gupta's report a moment ago. They're mobile clinics, set up and torn down easily. They're looking to help heal survivors in need of medical attention.

Nuclear specialists from the United States, and you heard Japan issue a formal appeal for these. These are folks who not only know how to deal with reactors, not only have experience in working with them, but also people who have experience in cleaning up nuclear fallout, radioactive material.

Also, telecommunications equipment, that's need. We're not just talking power generators. We're talking towers that can help restore some of the phone communications in Japan.

And finally debris-clearing machinery, and by this, Randi, I mean heavy-duty stuff. These are machines equipment that can move houses off trapped people. They can also clear out, cut through concrete and things like that.

KAYE: That is much need when you look at the destruction on the ground. In terms of numbers, how many countries, how many organizations are actually taking part?

AZUZ: A lot of international organizations already on the ground. Doctors without Borders, save the children, the red cross. The number of countries we know is up around 70 country offering help to Japan. One problem the Japanese government is dealing with is figuring out where the help is needed.

There's confusion amid all of this chaos. So in addition to finding survivors, the government is trying to determine where that aid, where those offers of aid can be used most effectively. Once that's determined, then we expect them to start accepting help from all of those nations offering it.

KAYE: I spoke to members of the Red Cross and save the children over the weekend, and I said, what do you need? They said, we don't know yet. We haven't been able to get into the areas yet to determine what we need. So I guess they do certainly have to do that before they can do much.

AZUZ: Part of the confusion in the aftermath of the quake.

KAYE: Carl, thank you.

AZUZ: Thank you.

KAYE: Our media partner, Time.com is on the ground in Japan. Next, their cameras follow as a plan searches for his daughter. And you do not want to miss this story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Take a look at this incredible video. An entire village is swept away in a matter of minutes, entire buildings carried away by that powerful tsunami.

Friday's earthquake was centered just 80 miles from the Japanese city of Sendai. Christa Mar of "TIME" magazine brings us this remarkable video footage as she follows a father searching for his missing daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTA MAR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Three days after the double disasters of an earthquake and tsunami hit the east coast of Japan, Masa Kasamatsu doesn't know whether his daughter Yoko has survived. She was at work at the Sendai airport when the tsunami washed over it on Friday afternoon. Dozens of people in the area were killed.

The Sendai airport is one of the many places along Japan's coast that has been devastated in this week's disasters. As aftershocks have continued to rock the region for the past three days, the rescue effort to get those stranded has just begun. On the road to the airport, these students are ferrying back and forth from their dorm story at the civil aviation institute to gather the things they had left in the dorm.

KEISUKE MASUDA, STUDENT: It was Friday, 3:00. We were studying in the house and we got a tsunami alert. I mean, we got a big earthquake once. Ten minutes of after that, we got tsunami alert. So we just evacuated to the top of that building, three stories, and waited for 40 minutes. After that, tsunami hit the building. I mean, everywhere here. Yes.

MAR: This is the footage he took from the school's roof.

MASUDA: When I saw the tsunami coming to us, I was, like, OK, I'm over. It's over. We stayed there all night, and it was so freezing. It was minus one degrees Celsius, and no food, no water. So we were so scared. Yes.

MAR: At the airport, Kasamatsu goes to the part of the building where he thinks his daughter works and starts asking around to see if anyone has heard of her. He finds out Yoko is OK. They've just missed each other. She has been here for the past two days and just left shortly before he arrived.

Kasamatsu's wife Amiko is at the car where they've been sleeping waiting for news about their daughter. She's overwhelmed to hear that she's OK.

It's a very good piece of news in a place where more will be need.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: If you watch these stories and wonder how you can help, we'll tell you next in my "XYZ." We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Large-scale destruction, continuous aftershocks and miles of debris. This is what rescue teams are facing today as they rush to find more survivors in Japan.

Time now for the "XYZ" of it. We all know the saying "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst." How many times has someone said to you or maybe you've said it to others? Well, when you look at the disturbing images from Japan, keep in mind that's just what they did. They were prepared yet too many were steam rolled by a massive wave they never had a chance to run from.

Japan has been here before. In September 1923 a massive earthquake hit the country, leveled buildings and typhoon winds fanned the flames of fires that had started from cooking stoves. When it was over, 100,000 people were dead.

But Japan didn't give up. It rebuilt. They built motorways, towers of steel and concrete and an airport. Then came another earthquake in 1995 in Kobe. Japan is a leader in preparedness. They have disaster prevention day every year on the anniversary of the 1923 quake. Schools take part in evacuation drills. Even the prime minister participates.

It has sensors in the water that monitor seismic activity. The buildings are built to sway with the earthquakes and absorb the rumble. But not even all of that could prepare the Japanese for the monster that roared out of the sea few days ago. Nothing likely could have. So many lives are gone and livelihoods along with them.

But if any country has the will and the determination to come back after something like this, it is Japan.

And we'd like to encourage you to help them. They need it. We have made it really easy for you. Just go to our Web page, CNN.com/impact.

And now it's time for me to toss it over to Brooke Baldwin.