video transcript

The district of Taro in Japan's Iwate prefecture was protected by a sea wall stretching for one and a half miles and rising up to 10 meters. Even so, the massive tsunami triggered by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake earlier this month devastated the town, leaving houses wedged against the sea walls and others washed away. Living above where the disaster struck, 63-year-old Mitsuko Fujisawa watched from her balcony as the town was destroyed. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 63-YEAR-OLD TARO RESIDENT MITSUKO FUJISAWA: "I watched everything from over there. The tsunami came over the sea walls. On the other side of the sea wall, there used to be a fish shop, this huge yellow building which came floating this way. So I shouted that it's no good to be here, and ran farther up the mountain." Following a massive tsunami in 1896 that killed nearly two-thousand, the town's inhabitants believed their new sea walls could withstand the worst waves imaginable. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 63-YEAR-OLD TARO RESIDENT MITSUKO FUJISAWA: "I've heard there were people who didn't think that a wave this big would come and were just sitting in their houses having tea. They must have thought that the wave couldn't go over the walls. There were people still in their houses you know." Hundreds are still missing in the small fishing town, and almost all the boats destroyed. Fujisawa worries the town may never recover, as it consists mainly of elderly people and the cost to rebuild will be enormous. The earthquake and tsunami left at least 28,000 people dead or missing across northeastern towns and cities. About a quarter of a million people are living in shelters, and the total damage caused could top $300 billion USD, making it the world's costliest natural disaster. Nick Rowlands, Reuters.