Is the nuclear crisis in Japan a lot worse than we're being told?

Shit. I've got a friend in Saitama who I'm still in touch with. Radiation levels there have already been reported at 40X normal; I've told her I'm very worried and offered to help her however I can. Having been in Japan when the Ibaraki nuclear accident happened, and knowing a) how surprisingly backwards things can get in Japan when it comes to things like nuclear safety, and b) how much of Japanese government/media policy is gaman, tatemae, perception management, ass-covering, and outright bullshit (ie, about 90% of everything you read in the newspapers), the following article makes perfect sense to me: 27 Signs That The Nuclear Crisis In Japan Is Much Worse Than Either The Mainstream Media Or The Japanese Government Have Been Telling Us. But I've already offered my friend help, and she's declined, saying that she's heard the radiation levels are no worse than an X-ray. But an ongoing, 24/7 X-ray?

Then again, I also know that there's a Chicken Little thing that happens online - people panic and reach for the grimmest possible conclusions... Still, it's stressful, being connected to people so far away - most of whom I'm no longer in touch with - when all this horrible shit is going down.

Don't really know what to do, though. Most of the people I knew, I no longer seem to have correct email information for... I should look in with a few more people, though.