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Connecticut Sends Relief To Japan Via AmeriCares

STAMFORD, CT (WCBS 880 / AP) - AmeriCares, which is based in Stamford, was one of the first on the ground in Japan, sending emergency response teams into Tokyo, where they're mobilizing volunteers.

PHOTO GALLERY: Deadly Tsunami Hits Japan After 8.9 Quake

WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reports on the relief effort

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Christoph Gorder of AmeriCares says while things are functioning in Tokyo, the coastal zone has been terribly decimated by the tsunami that followed last week's intense earthquake.

"...and then, of course, the fear of the silent killer which is radiation which has everybody terribly scared," says Gorder.

LINK: Help AmeriCares Bring Relief to Japan

AmeriCares works to provide medicines to their pharmaceutical donors.

Christoph Gorder says, of course private, donations in this long relief effort are so very much appreciated.

AmeriCares has provided medical relief and humanitarian assistance to millions affected by natural disasters and man-made crises around the world for nearly 30 years including the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia.

AmeriCares emergency response work often lasts years beyond the initial disaster – as they rebuild hospitals and health clinics and restore health services destroyed by the disaster. One year after the Haiti earthquake AmeriCares is still delivering medical aid to health care facilities treating survivors, and six years after the Southeast Asia tsunami, AmeriCares is still helping to rebuild hospitals for survivors in Sri Lanka.

The death toll following Friday's earthquake and tsunami has risen above 2,700, although officials expect at least 10,000 dead from one province alone. The rescue of a 70-year-old woman provided a rare bit of good news in Japan. The woman was found inside her home, which had been swept away by the tsunami.

Meanwhile, the country is on edge, fearing possible multiple nuclear meltdowns.

LINK: David E. Sanger's NY Times Coverage of the Nuclear Crisis

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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