Entire families bunked down on the airport floor while waiting as long as one or two days for a flight out of Fukushima, Japan, where tsunami damage to nuclear reactors put whole neighborhoods in jeopardy.
Many Japanese were so desperate to leave Fukushima that they slept on the floor in front of the airline counters at night, ensuring they would be the first to check in for flights in the morning.
With little food or water available, exhausted parents in Fukushima airport have been trying to keep their children happy and calm.
Japan's rescue crews also use the Fukushima airport as a place to spend the night; it is one of the few places in the region with electricity and mobile phone services.
Fukushima's tiny three-floor airport is packed with people attempting to leave the area as the threat of radiation exposure widens in northern Japan.
Most families left their homes with almost nothing. Diapers, baby food and water were in short supply at the airport.
Many families were traveling with their pets, knowing they wouldn'?t return to the area for a long time.