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So Katsunobu Sakurai, the 55-year-old mayor of Minamisoma, about 15 miles from the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, took to YouTube to broadcast his frantic plea to the world.
"We are left isolated," Sakurai said, staring into a digital camcorder, looking both determined and defeated. "I beg you, as the mayor of Minamisoma city, to help us."
But those who survived and stayed behind -- mostly the elderly or infirm -- are now trapped in their damaged homes or shelters, in danger of starving to death, Sakurai said in the video. And that's only his short-term fear. No one knows what the long-term radiation effects will be.
"We are facing difficulty even distributing necessary goods," Sakurai said solemnly. "We take full responsibility for livelihood support of these people." But, he added, "the protection measure to stay indoors issued by the government restricted our logistics."
"We regret to say this, but we have to ask volunteers to act at their own risk," he said.
Sakurai's 11-minute video bears a date-time stamp of March 24 and appeared on YouTube a day later. He speaks slowly and calmly, ever the bureaucrat, wearing a beige jacket over a shirt and tie, with a pen in his breast pocket.
But he hints at his fears: "People are literally drying up as if they are under starvation. We are fighting against the invisible threat of radiation and contamination.
"Before the contamination expands further, please give us your hand," he said to the world.
And the world responded overwhelmingly. Hundreds of thousands of people have viewed Sakurai's YouTube video, and many of them have sent supplies to Minamisoma. The local city hall has been flooded with phone calls since Sakurai's message hit the Web, and hundreds of care packages have arrived.
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"Suddenly, the world was extending its hand to us," Sakurai told The New York Times this week. Two weeks after his video plea, he's still wearing the same beige jacket but looks more relaxed. "We learned we're not alone."Throngs of volunteers, including doctors and construction workers, have journeyed to the town -- so many, in fact, that city officials have had to turn some people away, CNN reported.
Some shops have started reopening in Minamisoma, even though the government order to remain indoors is still in place. Takeout orders are popular.
A city hall worker struggling to handle loads of donated goods told the Times, "It's amazing how many of these donors say they saw us on YouTube."
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