Riverside City Leaders To Send Aid To Japan

Riverside civic leaders will meet today to discuss sending aid to earthquake-ravaged northern Japan.

Sendai, hard hit by a tsunami in the wake of the great earthquake that struck just east of the island nation at 9:46 p.m. Thursday Pacific Time., is a sister city to Riverside, and Mayor Ron Loveridge set a 3 p.m. meeting for today to discuss the best way to aid the city.

“I want to see what we can do beyond the sense of dismay and tragedy,” Loveridge, speaking from the Leauge of Cities meeting in Washington, D.C., told the Press-Enterprise.

Loveridge has traveled to Sendai four times. It became a sister city in 1957.

“Sendai has been hollowed out,” he said. “Basic services don’t exist because of the extraordinary damage. We want to help in the major recovery costs by deciding on the best strategies.”

The Los Angeles County Fire Department sent its elite search-and-rescue team to Japan early Saturday. They landed at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan.

The City Council plans to discuss aid to Japan at its meeting on Tuesday, as well. Loveridge, however, is not expected back in Riverside until Wednesday.