We live directly on the ocean in a good part of this city.
We are as attached to the movements of the Atlantic Ocean as Japan is attached to the movement of the Pacific Ocean.
We live in the belief that what happened in Japan can’t happen here.
Think again.
If the ocean floor buckled upward about 200 miles off our coast as it did in Japan last weekend, and a tsunami 23 feet high hit Revere Beach and the entire east coast of Massachusetts, there would be absolutely nothing left of this place except for homes of those who live at the top of Cow Hill and Powderhorn Hill in Chelsea. The remainder of the low lying areas would be flooded, all major and minor structures destroyed and the basics like electricity and gas, heat and fresh water unavailable.
The Plymouth nuclear plant would be rocked, as the Japanese nuclear plants have been rocked – and because we are downwind from the Plymouth plant, it wouldn’t be long before we’d be facing a serious radiation problem.
So when we watch the television news and feel badly for the Japanese people, somewhere in the backs of our minds there should be a place that reminds us it could happen here – although it is highly unlikely.
That being said, we’d urge our readers to make donations to the Red Cross to help the suffering Japanese people during this terrible time. It is the right thing to do for the Japanese who are among our closest allies.
