Survivors living in 'hellish sorrow'

NATORI (AP) :

A month after Japan's earthquake and tsunami, the challenges seem as daunting as ever: Thousands are missing and feared dead, tens of thousands have fled their homes, a leaking nuclear plant remains crippled; and powerful aftershocks keep coming.

Vast tracts of the northeast are demolition sites: The stuff of entire cities is sorted into piles taller than three-storey buildings around which dump trucks and earth-movers crawl. Ankle-deep water stagnates in streets, and massive fishing boats lie perched atop pancaked houses and cars. The occasional telephone poll or bulldozer is sometimes the only skyline.

"It's a hellish sorrow," said Numata Takahashi, 56, who escaped his home in Natori just before the waters came. "I don't know where we'll go, but I'm not coming back here. ... We'll go somewhere where there are no tsunamis."

Two strong aftershocks have killed people and sunk thousands more households into darkness, while also delaying progress on restoring power to those in darkness since March 11. Facing the prospect of massive shortfalls in the hot summer months, the government is asking companies to cut their consumption drastically or face mandatory energy caps.