A University of Tampa student, Lisa Hosack, 20, is currently in Ishinomaki, Japan. Ishinomaki, located about five km from the coastline, is one of the cities heavily impacted by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake on Friday.
Hosack, an accounting major and Philadelphia native, went to Japan for a spring break trip to visit her boyfriend and UT alumn, Devin Weider.
Weider lives in Sendai, Japan, where he teaches English.
Hosack contacted her family at 6 a.m. on Friday morning to tell them that she was still alive, according to her brother Steve Hosack.
She was unable to contact them until three days later. Hosack called her family Monday morning to tell them that she was being held at Hebita Middle School, which is being used as a shelter.
“She described the scene as you have seen on the news: no food, no water, no electricity. The roads are ruined, [and] the cities flooded,” said Steve Hosack.
Rescue workers in Japan reported that cold weather and aftershocks have added to the difficulty of finding missing victims.
Hosack told her family that she hasn’t seen any of the rescue operations at work yet.
Japan’s National Police Agency told CNN Wednesday that at least 3,676 people have been killed and 1,990 injured. Another 7,558 are still missing.
The Sendai airport that Hosack was scheduled to fly out of days ago has been destroyed. She is unsure when she will be able to return.
“I can’t speak for Lisa, [though] I know she is pretty emotionally shook up. But I know our family wants people to know that she is out there and needs help,” said her brother.
Both Hosack and Weider were interviewed by the Early Show on CBS. “It was good to see her face and hear her voice,” said Steve Hosack.
“Our family and friends have exhausted every means that we know of to try and locate her and get her to safety,” said her brother. “We are all hoping for the best and praying that she comes back safe.”
Cara Fetzer and Joshua Napier can be reached at minaret.news@gmail.com.