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CNN Sunday Morning

Quake Tsunami Disaster; Japan's Nuclear Crisis; Sights and Sounds of a Disaster; Escaping the Disaster Zone

Aired March 13, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Utter devastation, there really is no other way to describe what's left of northern Japan. The prime minister calls it the worst crisis since World War II. Half the people in one town are missing. Now, Japan's bracing for what could be the next disaster. Meltdown fears as two quake-damaged reactors.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ANCHOR: There is some hope, though, amid this catastrophe. Survivors are being pulled from the rubble and taken from the rooftops. Separated families are being reunited.

And rescue teams from around the world are arriving in full force.

KAYE: From CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, it's March 13th. I'm Randi Kaye.

STEVENS: And I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. And we'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world to our continuing coverage of the disaster in Japan.

KAYE: As Japan tries to recover from that powerful quake and tsunami, there are growing fears today the country could be hit with a nuclear disaster.

First, though, a quick update on the human scope of this disaster. The official death toll now 977, 739 missing. But those figures, of course, expected to rise.

One regional police official says the deaths in his area alone, quote, "will undoubtedly be in the tens of thousands." Thousands are missing.

More than 200,000 people who live near a nuclear power plant in northern Japan have been evacuated. There was an explosion at one reactor on Saturday. A government official says there are fears there could be now another explosion in a different reactor at the same plant. An official says both reactors could have meltdowns.

Iodine tablets have been handed out to people who fear they may have been exposed to radiation from the damaged plant.

The USS Ronald Reagan arrived off the coast. The crew already has made more than 20 trips delivering aid, trying to help people there. More U.S. ships are expected today or later this week.

Search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, are there; others from Los Angeles are expected in Japan soon.

Japan's prime minister went on TV again today to assure people that every effort is being made to get to victims of this massive disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAOTO KAN, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): So, with regard to the earthquake and tsunami, I am confident that the Japanese people can be united to work together to weather this difficulty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Japan's meteorological agency says the worst may actually not be over. There's a good chance of a magnitude 7.0 or larger quake in the next three days.

Rescue and recovery -- they are Japan's top two priorities right now. Let's go live to Ishinomaki. That's where we find CNN's Kyung Lah. She is live with more on the search for survivors.

Kyung, any sign of life where are you?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Randi, I can tell you that just standing and looking out the immediate rescue immediate rescue has pretty much slow down almost to nothing right now because night has fallen. We are not hearing that many choppers on the air. The rescue crews on the ground are starting to pull back. They're going to have to wait until daylight for the bulk of the next day of rescues.

What I can tell you, though, is that in the second day, in the big second day of trying to pull people out, they are continuing to find victims who are alive. We saw them plucking a man out of his house and he was lifted up into a helicopter by a gurney.

But there are so many people in just the one community that I was in. You grab one person, you ask them, who's missing? Well, it's my mother or my child. You turn to another person, who's missing? It's my son.

So, there are so many people affected by this. And it's very difficult to get an accurate count of exactly how many people are missing and how many people are dead. That's why we're seeing so many fluctuations in the exact numbers of all of this and why so many people are expecting those numbers to rise.

But the individual stories that these people tell is just stunning. Many of them were in their homes and they heard that wall of that tsunami and the debris come across and ravage house after house -- entire neighborhoods are completely flattened. We were standing in an area where you looked out and you thought it was a lake and it was an entire subdivision of homes.

So, there's so much work to be done, so many people who are missing. And so many rescues that still have yet to take place.

KAYE: Do you get any sense, Kyung, if these people had any type of warning? Was there time for them to get out in some cases?

LAH: They did have warning. The question is, is how many people actually heard it? Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world. So, when the earthquake alert system went out, many people -- many people in Japan have a mobile phone strapped on them at all times. This is one of the most wired places on the Earth.

You get an e-mail via your mobile telephone and that tells you there is going to be a tsunami or an earthquake. So, many people know instantaneously that there is something happening. The question is: were they carrying their mobile phones? Did they hear the alarms? Were they listening to radio? Were they watching television?

And in the case of some people, they heard it but they didn't quite expect the tsunami to hit them. I was standing miles inland, away from the water, away from the sea, away from the coastline. No one expected the tsunami to come in this far.

KAYE: Sure. It traveled, what, about six miles inland. So, it's amazing. Amazing pictures we continue to see of people being rescued.

Kyung Lah for us in Ishinomaki watching the rescue efforts where it seems to have been called off now with dark there. Thank you, Kyung.

Andrew, to you.

STEVENS: As amazing as that tsunami went in some cases, six miles inland.

Well, Japanese government officials say that they assumed but they can't confirm there has been a meltdown at one reactor at that nuclear plant near the city of Sendai in northern Japan.

Let's go to Stan Grant. He's been following this aspect of the disaster for us from Tokyo.

Stan, there has been conflicting reports about the exact situation in Fukushima where these plants are. What's your understanding of the situation?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you use that word "meltdown." You know, it's the word that no one really wants to utter, but certainly they have been saying that today. The words they've used is coming from the nuclear safety agency, Andrew, saying that there is a high possibility of a meltdown occurring in reactor one and they're working on the assumption, the possibility -- underline possibility -- of a meltdown in reactor three.

Now, why is this coming about? It's because these reactors have been exposed. They haven't been able to cover them with water and they continued to generate heat.

Now, they had been pumping seawater into reactor number three to try to keep it covered. Interestingly, though, despite pumping the water in there, they say they're not seeing any change on the gauge. They're also warning they're going to have to release some of that pressure, release that in steam into the atmosphere and that will cause a rise in radiation as well. Though, they are warning that radioactive material is still not going to be the level that would pose a risk to people.

That said, iodine is being passed around to people who guard against the impact of the coming into contact with radiation. We know that more than 100 people are being tested to some form of contact with radiation, some form of poison as a result of that.

And we're also seeing this exclusion zone of 20 kilometers and about 12, 13 miles. Up to 200,000, more than 200,000 residents have been evacuated from the area as well.

So, moving people out, they're taking precautions against people's health, and warning that they're working on the assumption, of a possibility in one case, and a high possibility in another of a meltdown in one or both of those reactors -- Andrew.

STEVENS: OK. Stan, so, a high possibility of meltdown and one possibility in the other. What does it mean if there is, in fact, a meltdown? What is the impact likely to be?

GRANT: OK. Then it gets into, how do you contain it?

Now, we know that these nuclear facilities have various safeguards, several redundant features, if you like. And if one fails, another one steps in to back up. So, you have the outer building itself, you have the inner casing, you have the casing around the reactor.

Now, if the casing melts down and the fuel that's been exposed and that heats, you do run the risk of a meltdown. Then the question is: does that radioactive material escape? Does it seep into the ground? Does it escape into the atmosphere?

That's what they need to avoid and that's why they have those safeguards. If they can keep it contained, then, of course, you limit the risk and exposure to people. If it escapes, then you get into a situation of how do you protect people from that radiation, what are the potential risks -- the potential risk of health problems, even the potential risk of death. So, that's where they're at right now -- Andrew.

STEVENS: OK. Stan, thank you for that.

Stan Grant joining us live from Tokyo.

Well, the scope of the destruction from the quake and tsunami is, as we have seen, making rescue operations very, very difficult. Families and friends have also been separated. Many are now desperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband hasn't come here yet. He left the home a little later than me. Our house was swept away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm looking for my son's wife. I have no idea which shelter she is in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My son might have been engulfed by the tsunami. I hope he's taking shelter somewhere. I'm struggling to locate him.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

STEVENS: And with communications the way they are in the quake zone, it's going to be a long and difficult task.

Meanwhile, Japan's meteorological agency said today the worst still may not be over. There's a good chance of another significant aftershock, a magnitude 7.0 or even higher could happen within the next three days or so, Randi.

KAYE: All right, Andrew.

Riveting, compelling, frightening images -- as we've been showing you -- they're pouring in Japan. Everyone seems to be documenting this as it unfolds. We'll share those with you.

Plus, what's happening at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility? Has a nuclear meltdown occurred? We break down that term next. And find out how it could affect the quake survivors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Pictures from Japan, they really are stunning. We're also continuing to get more video as power is slowly returned to parts of Japan.

STEVENS: Yes, Randi, we've been talking about this. In fact, this is the most documented disaster that really that we've ever seen.

I mean, the quake and the tsunami happened in a sophisticated, developed economy. People had access to video. And they've taken these incredible shots, not to mention the newscasters as well.

Just take a look at some of these. They are -- and it is compelling for all -- obviously, all the wrong reasons. This is near Sendai. I mean, it just gives you a complete understanding of the sheer, raw power of what happened to this part of Japan.

We've seen and we've reported on tsunamis before, particularly the Asian tsunami back in 2004. But it was always the aftermath, devastating scenes we saw from places like Banda Aceh and Sri Lanka.

But this is real time. This is what the people who are on the ground actually experienced. You see electric poles snapping, homes just disappearing, a giant wave of black water tossing cars.

It's just -- it's just extraordinary. It is frightening in so many a ways. And it's something that we really haven't experienced, this level of documentation before.

KAYE: Yes. And you see how quickly it moves through. And you think about how much surface that covered. I mean, this is video from the airport, Sendai airport, which really was turned into an island. You see the planes there floating by.

I mean, you think about this wall of water traveling about six miles inland. You see it picked up anything in it's path -- the plane, the cars. And these people are there to witness it all. I mean, you can only imagine the story that they'll have to tell.

We don't know -- you know, a lot of these people, they say they were warned. I mean, as you know, Andrew -- I mean, this is a very earthquake-prone country. But, boy, I mean, a lot of these people seem to have stuck around to take this in and record a lot of video. Amazing pictures.

The situation is under control. That is the word from Japan's prime minister today. Still, there are conflicting reports about what's going on at those nuclear power plants hit by the tsunami. The government is warning that a second explosion might happen. And all the uncertainty has lots of people worrying about a possible nuclear meltdown.

What exactly does a meltdown mean? CNN meteorologist Chad Myers breaks it down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Meltdown means the melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, and literally, after that, a large displacement of radiation throughout the entire atmosphere, somewhere.

How does it work? It works by a series of closed systems.

This -- when you're sitting in your car and you have the heater on in your car, you're not warmed because the fluid that's in your radiator is spraying on you, that would be an open system, because you're spraying hot stuff on you. You are warmed in your car because there's a small little radiator under your dash, it's blowing a fan through that radiator and that radiator is warming the air and you're being warmed by that air.

If all of these closed systems work in a nuclear reactor, nothing goes wrong.

Here we go, the water comes in, it cools down this, this is part of a turbine, the turbine is turning -- whether it's a coal-fired plant or not. The coal-fired turbine warms water, water turns the steam, steam turns the turbine. You turn this down, you cool it off, you pump it back through here, and you cool down the reactor.

Now, rather than burning coal and warming the steam, you're -- well, you've got a reactor core and you have control rods and you have pods here warming with uranium inside a nuclear reactor. That -- those rods are warming water to warm water to warm steam to warm a turbine and this goes on and on and on.

And as long as all these processes are working, everything works great.

The problem is that it didn't work right, because when the earthquake happened, power got shut off. This was generating its own power. The power shut off and then the backups came in.

The backups were little generators, literally, and then they got flooded by the tsunami. Then they had to go to backup power by batteries. Well, the batteries were only supposed to last for eight hours. Put more batteries in, it's going and going and going, they couldn't get it cool down.

Now, they've finally flooded it with seawater and boric acid, hoping that this is the final step. They have killed this reactor. This will never come back online, but that's the only thing at this point that they can get this cooled down. Let's hope it works.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: To find out how you can make a difference in Japan, as you watch these images, you may be moved to help. Well, you can visit our "Impact Your World" page. That's at CNN.com/impact.

More of CNN's special coverage of the disaster in Japan when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Now, in a disaster like we've been watching unfold in Japan, words can't justify a story the way that pictures can.

KAYE: No, they certainly can't. And thanks to iReports, we can show you what it is really like to experience an 8.9 magnitude earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is still going. Oh, my God, the building's going to fall!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole ground was shaking so much. It was unreal. I can't describe it. It's just -- it was -- it felt like someone was just pulling you back and forth like side to side as hard as they could.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just blew up. Woo! Woo! This is crazy!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't even stand up. I mean, literally, at the peak of these waves that were washing over the ground, you literally could not stay on your feet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an earthquake right now and this is actually moving. Can you see the cracks moving?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been awake about 35 hours. And that's because every time I lie down to go to sleep or rest, there's a big aftershock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IReporter Aaron Lace was attending a college graduation at a theater in Tokyo when the earthquake hit.

And, Aaron, just describe for us the moment of the earthquake when all of this essentially pandemonium broke out?

AARON LACE, IREPORTER: It was an absolute horrific event, obviously, because lives were lost. The aftershocks are coming extremely regularly. They're coming literally every hour at least and they're coming in doses that are extreme strong. And it's something that you would not wish upon your worst enemy.

And the way the Japanese people in a dignified manner, in an absolute civilized manner, have handled the aftermath of this. There has been absolutely no loss of law or order, no loss of any kind of civilized decorum of a people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see my house, looks like a bomb hit it. You can see there's some damage here. My -- all my pictures are screwed up.

And my kitchen's a little bit in disarray. I think we're OK there. My wife's office is pretty much destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

STEVENS: Certainly the impact from enormous to more disconcerting for some people. Now, next, we're going to take you on a tour of one of Japan's hardest hit city. More than half of the people who live here are missing. And a massive search and rescue effort is under way to see if anyone could have survived the wave that flattened this town.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We want to welcome our worldwide audience back to our very special coverage of the disaster in Japan. I'm Randi Kaye.

STEVENS: And I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Thanks for joining us.

KAYE: As Japan searches for victims of that powerful earthquake and tsunami, there are growing fears today the country could face a nuclear disaster. First though, a quick recap, the official death toll has been updated to more than 1,200 now just under 1,100 people missing. Those figures are expected to rise. A police official predicts fatalities in his area alone will undoubtedly be in the tens of thousands.

More than 200,000 people who live near a nuclear power plant have been evacuated. That's the plant right there. There was an explosion at the reactor on Saturday. A government official says there are fears there could be another explosion in a different reactor at the very same plant.

The "USS Ronald Reagan" arrived off the coast today. The crew already has made more than 20 trips delivering aid. STEVENS: Now, rescue and recovery, they are, of course, Japan's two top priorities right now. We can go live now to Ishinomaki, that's where we -- we find CNN's Kyung Lah; she's live with more on the search there for survivors. And Kyung this was a very hard hit part of Japan. It's right in the -- the main zone which the tsunami hit.

What is the picture there and what is the likelihood from what you can see of how many survivors you'd expect to get from this?

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really difficult to tell, Andrew, until the water starts to recede. What we're hearing from the military, the Japanese military and search and rescue crews, they -- they really can't give us an accurate picture of how many people they'll be able to rescue or how many bodies they're going to find. There are so many people who are missing in these communities.

And in just looking out, it looks like lakes everywhere. But there are places where there were houses, dozens of houses that are simply gone when the tsunami came ashore. And they're so far inland -- we're -- we're in a place that's so far inland, many people, even though they practice for the idea of a tsunami, they didn't really expect that the tsunami would come so far ashore.

So what we're hearing from the officials is that they -- they've got to do a combination of things. They're taking to the air. We have heard chopper after chopper throughout the day, circling above, looking for victims, looking for people who might be waving flags, waving t-shirts out of windows.

People standing on their roofs, people saying they're injured, that anyone's written a sign. People -- some people have written signs, messages on their rooftops asking to be rescued. Those people -- they're trying to get down there and pluck and pull out. We actually saw one of those rescues happening during the daytime today.

But now it's night time. That -- that immediate sort of eyeball rescue has ended for the day. What they're now waiting for is when the water recedes they can get a better assessment of how many victims might be in the rubble.

There are so many people you talk to who say, my -- my wife is missing or my son is missing, or my -- my grandmother is missing. And they're all saying, and you hear it again and again -- they had -- first of all, have a very shocked look on their face. They're still shell- shocked. And they say, we haven't heard from them. They're somewhere out there. But you can see that hope just starting to fade every hour that passes.

STEVENS: Kyung, thank you very much. It -- it just sounds extraordinarily bad in that town. And this is a story that we'll likely hear repeated many, many times over the next few days.

And you can find out how you can make a difference too, in Japan. All you have to do is go to our Web site Impact Your World page. That's the CNN.com/impact, there you'll find ways of helping in Japan, reaching out and helping the devastated parts of that country. Now all alert across Japan, could there be a nuclear meltdown? We're watching that after an explosion at a nuclear plant; fears today that there could be another blast. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Now, I want to take you back to a big worry that many people in Japan have right now. It's the two nuclear plants and the threat of a possible meltdown. Now, earlier this morning I spoke to a nuclear energy expert out of London.

He says because of a pressure build-up, officials released gases from the pressure vessel. That's a key part of the plant's safety system where most radioactive material is kept. Now, those gases contained hydrogen, which trigger the explosion when it mixed with oxygen. This is the explosion we have been reporting. You see that's the explosion on your screen there, a big cloud of white smoke going up.

But the explosion caused actually no damage to the reactor itself. The most important thing right now is getting cooling water into the middle reactor -- middle of the reactor. Now, the very worst of the radioactivity would have died away by now. Remember, we are more than two days into this crisis. But the area is still days away from actually being deemed safe.

Now, official response to the crisis has been, he said, extremely efficient. But still is on high alert and there's still a 20- kilometer exclusion around -- zone about 13 mile around that -- that plant in Fukushima, Randi.

So still everybody very much on a high alert there.

KAYE: Sure. So a lot of people are wondering what kind of threat does this nuclear crisis create for Japan and even really the rest of the world?

James Walsh is a research associate in the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Walsh, good to see you.

I want to start with a gut check from you. How serious do you believe this situation is?

JAMES WALSH, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Oh, I think it's serious, all right. But -- but before I explain why, Randi, let me say I know you have viewers in Japan who are watching CNN right now. And I just want to say, extend my personal sympathies to the people in Japan. I have lots of friends and colleagues at M.I.T. and I know people across America are concerned about our friend and ally Japan. And we'll continue to do what we can to help.

But on the issue of seriousness, it is serious. Now I think there's been a lot of sort of loose talk about the meltdowns and sort of worst case scenarios. And we should be judicious in how we talk about it.

But let's be honest. No one wants to be here. We're sort of up against it. We're in a place where things could go very badly. I don't think they will continue -- and I don't think it will be the catastrophic outcome that everyone fears but we are in that domain. We are in -- you know that's a possibility. And you never want to be in a place where that's there's a possible.

KAYE: Well, they -- they are pumping the sea water in to cool it down. They've evacuated residents. Is this the appropriate thing to do or should more be done right now?

WALSH: Well, if they're doing that, and they are, that's because they have no other choice. The last thing you want to do is pump sea water and boron into a reactor. Why? Because that's going to kill that reactor, they're never going to use that reactor again. The salt in the sea water corrodes and the boron corrodes it and essentially they are waving the white flag and saying, this plant is done. We're doing this as a last-ditch -- a mechanism to try to prevent overheating and to prevent a partial or full meltdown.

So -- if -- if they're at this point, it's because they have no other choice.

KAYE: You know we have -- we have some video that we've seen of people who have been treated for radiation exposure but there's also a lot of concern even far away from that area that the winds and -- and possibly the weather or the rains, whatever may come, will carry some of this radioactive material elsewhere. Is that concerning to you?

WALSH: Well, of course it's a concern. You don't want that to happen. I think you have to put it in some sort of context. If the weather -- if the wind are blowing out to sea, this will go out to sea and will not be a problem, if you -- the farther away you live from the plant, the less will be blown towards you. It also depends on how much was released and what the composition of those releases are.

You know, which types of radiation, which types of radio nuclides, all those things matter. So radiation is simply more than radiation. There are big differences depending on what you're doing.

But the bottom line is this Randi, they have to vent it. They have no choice. Nuclear power plants often do this anyway. But they have to do it now because they don't want to face the alternative. And the alternative is if the pressure builds up so significantly that there's an explosion that might affect the containment vessel, might affect what's going on inside that plant and that's the last thing they want to have happen, because that containment vessel is the last line of defense.

If there is a partial meltdown or a full meltdown, the containment vessel is supposed to hold that radioactive material and keep it from leaking outside. So, they're going to do whatever they can to maintain its integrity.

KAYE: Jim Walsh, I appreciate all of your insight today. Thank you -- Andrew.

WALSH: Thanks. STEVENS: Now, first, the quake and then the tsunami and now bitter cold temperatures in Japan. A closer look at the challenges for those living in makeshift shelters and evacuation centers right around the quake and tsunami zone. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Desperately needed aid is now getting into the disaster zone. We're getting word that one of the first U.S. search teams are now on the ground in Japan.

CNN's Brian Todd is with one of those crews. And he joins us on the line now.

Brian, just tell us, where are you headed and what sort of efforts are these guys going to be doing mainly?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrew, we believe that in the coming hours we're going to be going right into the quake zone, right into some of the hardest hit areas. We're set to deploy just a couple hours to push south from here. We're at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. We landed a couple of hours ago, waiting for some equipment, some of the heavier equipment to arrive in another cargo jet right after us.

And the capabilities here are a quite unique. I mean, they have canine teams that can scour the rubbles, they have listening devices, cameras and they have some heavy equipment to help cut through the rubble. They've got jackhammers, very heavy saws, they've got other equipment to try to move some of it out of place.

And these guys are -- are very well versed at doing this kind of thing. They were in Haiti, they've been in Turkey, they've been in other disaster areas. The L.A. team that came here, some of their colleagues -- not this group -- some of their colleagues went to New Zealand just a few weeks ago.

So these teams are very well trained. They have great experience in doing this and they are eager to get on site.

STEVENS: Now, what have they been telling you about what they've seen so far, the images they've seen so far about how difficult it's going to be? I mean, obviously in an earthquake zone you -- you have the aftershock issue for a start.

TODD: That's right. I mean, they're used to dealing with aftershocks and they -- they think that this is going to be very, very challenging. They don't -- they try not to compare this to other disasters, because everyone is so much different. What they have brought along with them this time though, Andrew, is a -- a group of inflatable boats because of the tsunami factor.

They've got swift water rescue teams here. They are very capable and adept at rescuing people from situations in floodwaters. So, they have brought those boats and that equipment with them. They're ready for that as well. I know that the Fairfax County team, I've seen them in action. I've seen them pluck people out of the Potomac River when it's gotten very, very rough. And -- and some people have gotten swept away so they are -- they are very capable of doing that and they -- they are really eager to get on site and -- and start to do recon.

That's the first thing they're going to do when they get there in a couple of hours, is just scour the site, get orders from the U.S. and Japanese government as to where they're most needed.

STEVENS: Ok. Brian thanks very much for that. Brian Todd joining us on the line there from an air base on mainland Japan. They're going to deploy in the next couple of hours. We have one of the first U.S. rescue teams on the ground heading into the worst affected areas of the quake zone.

Well, the U.S. is just one of 49 countries now offering relief to Japan. In addition to the U.S., they include Britain, Canada, Australia, China, Spain, Germany and France. Thailand has also offered financial aid.

The first wave of aid from the U.S. did arrive on Saturday. More equipment and search and rescue crews from Virginia and California are expected to arrive today.

China is also preparing to send equipment, military personnel and medicine; it's Red Cross has placed $150,000. Meanwhile Britain and Australia are sending search and rescue teams as well -- Randi.

KAYE: Andrew, weather is playing a big role in the search and rescue effort in Japan where it is winter. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has more on the weather, and the search and rescue teams, and what they'll be facing as we look at the days ahead.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Yes, you know, Randi, we've seen a lot of people, of course, displaced, affected by this situation out there; folks staying in temporary housing, folks in makeshift shelters and also areas that are susceptible to the elements.

The main concerns we have right now, we know rain is going to be in the forecast. Perhaps some snow showers, windy conditions and also very, very cool temperatures.

You take a look at this, the setup in place here. That's the frontal feature right there beginning to exit China working its way across the sea of Japan and approaching the area within Sendai inside the next, say 6 to 12 hours. We're going to see rain showers, at times heavy. And again the temperatures are going to go downhill; some 10 to 15 degrees cooler, about say 4 degrees to 7 degrees Celsius cooler temperatures. So, we're talking about, say, 41, 42 degrees Fahrenheit when we have been, say, in the mid-50s Fahrenheit in the last couple of days.

And again the wind component is going to be a primary ingredient because the winds had been coming in from the south. The southerly wind helping it stay warm but also some of the areas, say around Fukushima where we have the nuclear power plant and the issues out there, some of those are being blown offshore so not a lot of folks affected by it.

But once this feature passes, the counter-clockwise circulation associated with it, the winds then become more of an onshore radiant. We have more of a northerly or northwesterly win, once that is in place, here, concern is going to be some of the radioactive that could be pushed back on toward the population source over the next couple of days.

Take a look at the temperatures. Forecast highs on Monday, upper 40s Fahrenheit. Looking at about 10 or so degrees Celsius; 9 degrees, 10 degrees Celsius which is about average. Some rain showers possible late in the afternoon hours but the five-day forecast takes you from Monday's 49 to Tuesday's 42, then 6 degrees Celsius for a high temperature, below average, you get down to the Celsius mark there for the overnight hours, looking at below zero. And again in the overnight hours of Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, a few snowflakes could accumulate in the area while the winds are gusty and also the temperature is getting cold.

So Randi this certainly is a situation here worth monitoring the next couple of days.

KAYE: Yes. Especially in those overnight hours when the rescue efforts have to stop and that's when it's going to be coldest for these folks who might be waiting for someone to come find them.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely.

KAYE: All right Pedram. Thanks so much.

Andrew.

STEVENS: Randi, a school trip to Japan has turned into an experience a group of college students are never likely to forget. In fact, some of them are still stranded in Japan.

We'll be talking live with the professor who's now trying to get them back home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Just take a look at this video after Friday's quake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan. You're looking here at the city of Sendai. This is the biggest city in the quake and tsunami zone. It has a population of one million people.

Now, take a look at what Sendai looked like before the quake and tsunami. The damage and destruction, well, it is hard to believe.

We've been gathering pictures and sounds of what the Japanese prime minister in the last couple of hours has described as the biggest disaster in Japan since the Second World War, the biggest emergency it's had to deal with. Let's take a look and listen to what we've been gathering.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can see how far the mangled mess of these cars has been flung. You can feel the weight and the force of the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest problem right now we have is there's no food anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what I had for dinner, twelve hours ago. I have had nothing to eat since then. I had some orange juice. This is all I've had in 12 hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Earlier on Saturday, Kan took to the air to inspect the damage caused by the massive earthquake in northeastern Japan.

NAOTO KAN, PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN (through translator): We will do our best to try to rescue all survivors and people who are isolated, especially today, because every minute counts.

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are 13 people buried alive. There are children among the missing. The hope is from these rescuers, is that they may be in their houses, maybe trapped in a void, but as you can see there, that mud and dirt is heavy. It is wet. This is a massive challenge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the situation that has potential for a nuclear catastrophe. And it's basically a race against time.

KAN: We have also evacuated 20 kilometers away from the first nuclear reactors. I would like to give careful attention so that not one citizen is affected by the radiation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Well, as you can imagine, a lot of people are trying to get home from the disaster zone. That's what a couple of college professors and a few of their students are trying to do today.

Let's talk with them. Rebecca Oliphant from Stetson University joins us live by phone from the Tokyo Airport. Rebecca, you and your husband and students are trying to get home to Orlando. How difficult is that proving to be?

REBECCA OLIPHANT, STETSON UNIVERSITY: Well, people have really responded well to us. When we got here to the airport some 24 hours ago, I think only three of us had a flight. But a tour operator worked with us and stayed with us and we've got ten going to five different cities in the U.S. on a plane today. And then there's three students and my husband and I here tonight again.

The Japanese people have been very nice. They have given us water and Ritz crackers and rice packs, sleeping bags, pillows, blankets to sleep on the floor. KAYE: Where were you and your students when the quake and the tsunami hit?

OLIPHANT: We were actually at Tokyo Disneyland. We were getting ready to meet with a marketing executive there. We were supposed to meet at the front of the park. And actually, that was maybe a good thing because everyone was grouping together at that point in time.

My husband and I were actually --

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Did you feel it? What did it feel like?

OLIPHANT: Yes, we definitely felt it. They told us that it ran somewhere about a 5-point on the scale, what we experienced in Tokyo. We were actually going into a hotel, and when we stepped on the mat of the hotel, the chandelier started shaking.

And being Disney we thought maybe that was part of an attraction, but as it started doing more than shake and actually swaying, we realized what was happening and we ran back out of the hotel.

KAYE: Wow. Well, it's certainly good news that some of your students are getting flights. They have gotten flights. And I hope you and your husband and the rest of your crew will be able to do the same. Rebecca Oliphant, thank you so much.

And a lot of folks, I'm sure, watching are probably wondering how they might be able to help, how you might be able to help. So take a look at this. You can visit our Impact Your World Web page at cnn.com/impact. A lot of organizations there you can link up with to try to help the victims in Japan.

More CNN special coverage of the disaster in Japan when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. I'd like to thank Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong for handling co-anchor duties with me. Andrew, always a pleasure to work with you.

STEVENS: You, too, Randi. Thanks a lot.

KAYE: And I'd also want to share with you -- we're getting some interesting information about the warning system Andrew, and you probably want to weigh in on this. Sixty second of warning apparently is what the folks in Japan got, which probably saved countless lives.

We know that they're equipped for this, right? They have those buildings that can sway with the earthquake and they get -- and they track these p-waves apparently, so when the earth starts to shake, that actually arrives even before the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. It's fascinating.

ANDREWS: Yes. I think -- it's interesting, isn't it? Because it's such a quake-prone area that the buildings withstood a lot of the worst of the quake, but they couldn't withstand what happened in the ensuing tsunami.

You talk about 60 seconds. As Kyung was saying, this tsunami sweeping six miles inland; a lot of people were getting tsunami warnings but thinking well, we're so far inland we should be ok, but it just wasn't to be.

KAYE: Well, Andrew, a pleasure working with you. Japan is getting much more international help today as well. We'll continue to follow that.

"STATE OF THE UNION with Candy Crowley starts right now.