Ann Arbor assistant city attorney's son is missing after tsunami ignites raging fires in Japanese city
An Ann Arbor assistant city attorney's 25-year-old son is missing after a massive earthquake struck just off the coast of Japan, causing a tsunami that wreaked havoc on the coastal city where her son is living.
Paul Fales is missing after a tsunami wreaked havoc on the Japanese town where he was living.
Photo courtesy of the Fales family
Paul, a Monroe High School grad and a 2010 Eastern Michigan University graduate, is working as an assistant language teacher in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program in Kesennuma City, Miyagi, Japan.
Multiple news agencies are filing reports of a chaotic scene in the city of Kesennuma. Local news agencies are reporting that the city is "burning furiously" and that "one third of the city has now been completely submerged as fires continue to rage in the rubble and debris," according to the U.K. Guardian.
Paul started his job as a language teacher in January.
"We have not heard from him yet," Mary wrote in an e-mail tonight. "All of our attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful."
Mary said she has been communicating with a wide range of authorities to try to find Paul. The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), which coordinates the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, has "been unable to confirme his whereabouts either," she said.
Fales said her family also has been communicating with the State Department and the Japanese Consulate in Detroit about the situation.
An AnnArbor.com attempt to reach Paul through Facebook tonight was not successful.
Meanwhile, Japanese officials are still dealing with the magnitude of the situation.
National reports indicate that the death toll from the natural disaster numbers in the hundreds and possibly into the thousands.
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com.
Comments
Brady
Mon, Mar 14, 2011 : 6:31 p.m.
YouWhine -- Social Media has played a hugely significant role in connecting missing persons with their loved ones. Many traditional communication channels are out, but friends of friends have been sucessful in providing updates via twitter, Google, and Face Book. But don't take my word for it. Try Googling the concept; you'll get hundreds of hits, including this one (randomly selected from among the top hits): <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/03/14/internet-intact-japan/" rel='nofollow'>http://mashable.com/2011/03/14/internet-intact-japan/</a>
BJ One
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 4:38 p.m.
Our prayers for every single human being in Japan whether they are Japaneses, Americans, or other nationalities. At the end of the day, we are all related to each other and are touched by joy, happiness and sadness together. The spirit of Hope is stronger when used. May all the dead rest in peace and God bless their souls and the missing people be found and return to their loved ones safely. Amen Hamada
Alan Goldsmith
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 8:29 p.m.
"Seriously? THe guy has decided to ignore his family, the State Department, the Japanese Consulut, the agency which put him into hos job there... BUT he is going to stop in the middle of the devastation to facebook with A2.com? Stupid. You guys tried to contact him? Great. But mentioning it in the article made you look like 3rd graders who thought they were some kind of secret sleuths." Not much I can add to this comment.
Tru2Blu76
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 7:42 p.m.
It's hard to even grasp the scope and scale of this natural disaster (more like, catastrophe!). It's just staggering - and that's for us, many thousands of miles removed from the destruction and dangers (like the nuclear plant where explosions have been reported). No parent ever wants to confront the reality of their child having gone missing. I once lost track of my 5 year-old daughter for about 8 minutes: the terror is something I still remember. My deepest sympathy goes out to Mrs. Fales and with it goes my hope that her son will soon turn up unharmed. Of course, we are seeing that all of Japan, the world's third-most powerful economy, is in deep trouble. We have good reason to hope and pray that the whole world moves to help the Japanese people.
CincoDeMayo
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.
I agree that Paul would be more likely to contact his family than AnnArbor.Com, however, it was through Facebook that I was able to determine that our friends in Japan were safe and sound. We also use it extensively at my work now to contact people very successfully. I, like others, am hoping that being in the middle of the chaos, and just not having the means to communicate, is why nothing has been heard from Paul. Our prayers also are with the family.
MjC
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 4:50 p.m.
Sending out my good thoughts and prayers for this young man, his family, and all the people of Japan.
thinker
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 4:19 p.m.
I am praying for his safety and for peace of mind for his family here.
Gill
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 3:01 p.m.
The Google People finder could use more information entered: <a href="http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/view?first_name=&id=japan.person-finder.appspot.com%2Fperson.2587396&last_name=&query=Paul+Fales&role=seek" rel='nofollow'>http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/view?first_name=&id=japan.person-finder.appspot.com%2Fperson.2587396&last_name=&query=Paul+Fales&role=seek</a>
blph
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 2:32 p.m.
Facebook has been the tool that many people have used to successfully to learn about the post quake/tsunami status of their family members and/or friends in Japan.
WalkingJoe
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 1 p.m.
I hope Paul is safe and sound. Like all of us seeing all the devastation I can only imagine what he and the people in Japan are going through. Having said that I have to say this article is more relevant than the one yesterday telling us how some local people's vacations in Hawaii were interupted by tsunami warnings.
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 12:51 p.m.
My heart goes out to the family and friends. I pray he is safe.
YouWhine
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 3:51 a.m.
I certainly hope he is found safe. The optimist in me says that in all of the chaos, it would be nearly impossible to contact your loved ones who were safe and sound. That being said... WHAT is with this line: "An AnnArbor.com attempt to reach Paul through Facebook tonight was not successful."? Seriously? THe guy has decided to ignore his family, the State Department, the Japanese Consulut, the agency which put him into hos job there... BUT he is going to stop in the middle of the devastation to facebook with A2.com? Stupid. You guys tried to contact him? Great. But mentioning it in the article made you look like 3rd graders who thought they were some kind of secret sleuths.
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 12:51 p.m.
"It is difficult to impossible to reach anyone by cell, and the landlines aren't exactly working in the worst hit areas, either. I'll tell you that facebook, and other services like twitter and skype have been some of the only ways to get info on whether your friends and loved ones are all right since this happened yesterday. There is nothing ridiculous at all about utilizing it to try and find him." I am a bit naive about twitter,skype, facebooking from a smart phone etc. But if you can't make a phone call from your cell phone wouldn't it be unlikely you could tweet, skype or update facebook either?
Glaive
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 10:28 a.m.
Hello, another teacher with the same program in a region north of Miyagi, here. Two people have already commented, I know, but incase you want to hear from someone on the ground in Japan... IN FACT, the cellphone systems have been overloaded and almost completely non-functional since yesterday. It is difficult to impossible to reach anyone by cell, and the landlines aren't exactly working in the worst hit areas, either. I'll tell you that facebook, and other services like twitter and skype have been some of the only ways to get info on whether your friends and loved ones are all right since this happened yesterday. There is nothing ridiculous at all about utilizing it to try and find him. Good luck to him. JET has a good network of people here, and very few of the casualties have been young and healthy, as I've heard. There is very good reason to think this will turn out OK for him and his family.
KathrynHahn
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 7:49 a.m.
"Seriously? THe guy has decided to ignore his family, the State Department, the Japanese Consulut, the agency which put him into hos job there... BUT he is going to stop in the middle of the devastation to facebook with A2.com? Stupid. You guys tried to contact him? Great. But mentioning it in the article made you look like 3rd graders who thought they were some kind of secret sleuths" Seriously sir, with all due respect, most likely communications systems are overloaded and/or down. To say he is "ignoring" his family, etc is a very rude assumption. I'm sure as soon as he can get to a working phone, his family will be the first to hear from him, and probably on his mind all this time.
Nathan Bomey
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 4:22 a.m.
@YouWhine, Thanks for the feedback. We value your thoughts. I think recent natural disasters have shown that social media can become a key way for people to communicate that they're OK or, in some instances, that they're in danger. For that reason I think it's particularly relevant to say how we're attempting to reach him.
Kai Petainen
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 3:45 a.m.
=( prayers/thoughts/etc with the family....
Urban Sombrero
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 3:02 a.m.
I really hope he's alright and is found safely. My thoughts are with the family.
BornInA2
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 2:02 a.m.
This might be worth a try: <a href="http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en" rel='nofollow'>http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en</a>
jcj
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 1:58 a.m.
Hopefully he will be found OK and this is just a problem with communications.
Roadman
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 1:40 a.m.
One American has been presumed drowned on the West Coast from the tsunami. This article shows that this is an American as well as Japanese disaster.
thinker
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 4:18 p.m.
@ Roadman- The drowned American in Oregon was foolishly taking photos during the tsunami, ignoring the warnings.