rikuzentakata in iwate prefecture. they've seen tsunami waves of about four meters high and we say four meters given the fact that data

television news. >> reporter: this is the town of rikuzentakata. your eyes will tell you something very different because rikuzentakata, home just 72 hours ago to almost 30,000 people, has been wiped from the face of the earth. the tsunami came, destroyed everything in its path, and then took much of what it had destroyed back out to sea. the rest it left heaps and splintered almost nothing built by man or spared. what happened here is almost beyond description. it seems that an entire town, a thriving coastal community, has been picked up, and then dumped a mile or so up the valley from where it started. i'm standing on what i think is the piece of wall, but it is on top of cars. they are on top of bits of roof. we know that all this happened within an hour or so of that first earthquake. it doesn't bear thinking about how many people would not have had time to get away. these are people who rarely show emotion in public, but stoicism at this time is too hard. they search through the lists of names posted on boards in evacuation centers of those w

ian williams, nbc news, rikuzentakata. >>> that's our report for this friday night. thank you for being with us. i'm lester holt. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and right back here tomorrow night. good night, everyone. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

rikuzentakata, a port city of 20,000 people, was virtually wiped out by the tsunami. but rescuers found a handful of survivors in other parts of the province. they had an emotional reunion with loved ones today. >> you look at the images that are tough to take. it's good to see people finding each other. >> there are glimmers of hope, right. >> that's right. >>> we have more coming up from japan. but first, we want to update you on the weather from all around the country. heavy rain from tennessee to the carolinas, drenching memphis, nashville and raleigh. showers and thunderstorms in houston, new orleans and jackson, mississippi. a mix of rain and snow, from st. louis to central illinois. rain from seattle to portland. mountain snow in the rockies. >> mostly 50s from seattle to salt lake city.phoenix. and a hot 86 in phoenix. 35 in fargo. and 45 in kansas city. 48, here in new york. and 70s in atlanta to new orleans. >>> well, coming up, the day's other news. a congresswoman makes her american history. >>> plus, a high-level resignation at the state department. >>> a