Some Japanese staying put despite radiation threat

Japanese residents: We're not leavingSTORY HIGHLIGHTSSome Japanese residents in the evacuation zone are refusing to leaveDamage to roads within the 12-mile evacuation area renders transportation difficultOfficials again urge residents near the Fukushima nuclear plant to evacuate (CNN) -- In Futaba, Japan, the threat of death by radiation poisoning is not enough to compel some residents to obey the Japanese government's order to leave their homes.

Futaba is within the 12-mile evacuation zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant where crews are struggling to contain radiation spilling out of the facility -- a disaster created by a March 11 earthquake-triggered tsunami.

The nuclear accident has turned Futaba into a ghost town, almost. Trains no longer run to this northern Japan farming community. The clean-up of the damage wrought by the earthquake has not started and the only people on the streets are members of Japan's self-defense forces, all dressed head to toe in protective clothing.

However, government forces conducting house-by-house searches have found people who refuse to get out of Futaba. Some say they are too sick or old to leave their homes. Others say they stayed behind, or managed to return, to feed their animals.

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