...in other weather news...

SUPA TAIFUUN NABI has breezed (hah!) across Kyushu as something between a Cat. 1 and Cat. 2 storm, currently blowing at 80 knots and gusting to 100. It's swinging up through the Sea of Japan, looking very much like it will bypass Honshu, and is predicted to be a mere tropical storm by the time it connects with Hokkaido. Yomimuri Online reports 45,000 evacuated, 18 missing although this apparently hasn't made the English version just yet (the english version does lead with the following story:

The [Japanese] Construction and Transport Ministry plans to send a team of ministry officials and experts to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to conduct on-site research, a move aimed at studying safety measures for low-lying areas in Japan, according to ministry sources. (more)

Seems like they got off pretty lightly, given that Nabi was a Cat. 5 for a bit.

milo would be proud

I am quoting this almost in its entirety, since I am not clear on how unique the link is.

the Federal Emergency Management Agency ... ask[s] evacuees to call (800) 621-3362 or browse to www.fema.gov to start the process of filing a claim for disaster assistance...

It turns out, according to the [Red Cross] worker, who like the other aid workers spoke on condition of anonymity, that the call to the FEMA number does not open a claim; it results in a package containing the claim form being mailed to the address of the evacuee.

Since the evacuee is in a shelter, mail service has been suspended in many of the hardest hit areas and some of the homes are likely still under water, it seems clear that those claim forms won't be mailed back any time soon.