Some relatives are safe, but Schaumburg woman still trying to reach others in Japan

Miki Yonekura of Schaumburg was getting phone calls at 2 a.m. and then 3 a.m. Friday, but she figured it was just a wrong number. Then at 3:30 a.m., she decided to answer the persistent rings.

On the phones were friends frantic that Yonekura check on her family in Sendai, which was at the center of the devastating earthquake just hours before.

Yonekura, a Sendai native and manager at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Chicago, quickly started punching in phone numbers to call her sisters and brother near Sendai and her mother in Natori. But no one answered.

She then tried texting and e-mailing and finally an aunt in another city answered an e-mail. Her aunt was OK, but their home had no power.

Her father, who was on a business trip away from the tsunami-affected area, was finally able to get through on the phone lines to Yonekura around 8 p.m. Friday. He reported that he and his wife, along with Yonekura’s brother and his family, were safe.

Her brother was at work 45 minutes away at the time of the tsunami, and when he returned, his house in Yamamoto was gone, Yonekura said.

He went to his daughter’s school to pick her up, and then to get his mother in Natori, where a nearby river had overflowed. He finally reached Sendai, where his wife works. The four are staying in Yamagata, which hasn’t suffered any damage, Yonekura said.

“‘We lost everything – cars, building — everything. But that’s OK, we’re safe,’” Yonekura said her mom told her by phone.

She is still trying to get into contact with five more family members who live in Sendai — her sister, brother-in-law, and their three children.

Yonekura, her husband and son moved to Schaumburg in 2005 after leaving New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She said her mother told her, “Miki, you went through the same thing. But I know you did it and I know I can do it.”

Yonekura said the Chicago Japanese chamber will be conducting a fundraising drive next week to help with recovery efforts. For details, visit jccc-chi.org.