Banda Aceh (Indonesia)
Help finally came from the sky on Sunday for Indonesian villages in an area flattened by the tsunami a week ago, but it grew clearer that no amount of aid could stop more loss of life throughout the disaster zone.
Starving people besieged US and Indonesian military helicopters carrying food and clean water as they managed to land for the first time along Sumatra’s north-west coast.
It was a small start, but UN officials said it could be two more weeks before some stricken communities could be reached, giving dehydration, disease and hunger time to add their own toll.
UNICEF said reports were coming in that children were dying of pneumonia in the area. In places near Banda Aceh, capital of north Sumatra's Aceh province, wild scenes meant aid deliveries had to be aborted.
“A few helicopters have tried to land in the coastal villages outside of Banda Aceh but mobs on the ground desperate for the supplies prevented them from landing,” the UN World Food Programme said.
In Sri Lanka nature stayed cruel as torrential rains flooded refugee camps.
“We already lost our homes. We came here then the rains came and took away everything we had left,” said G.K. Sambasivam, 65, dozens of whose relatives are missing.
In Andaman and Nicobar Islands rescuers used small rubber and wooden boats to reach islands where roads were impassable.
The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, now anchored off at Sumatra, significantly boosted aid operations.
“A major change has been the arrival of the US ship with helicopters which have been able to reach the west coast,” said Michael Elmquist, head of the UN disaster relief in Indonesia.
“The logistical situation is looking a lot better than it did a couple of days ago ... Things are improving slowly.”
Capt Larry Burt, commander of a helicopter air wing on the Lincoln, said he had seen bodies 20 miles out to sea.
“You just cannot describe it,” he said. “Above the water line there are people standing and waving flags trying to signal us. There are so many, you just can’t stop for all of them.”
Japan vowed half a billion dollars of help and Washington raised its contribution ten-fold to $350 million.
“The carnage is of a scale that defies comprehension,” said US President George W. Bush, who has also sent 1,500 troops to help in Sri Lanka.
His Secretary of State Colin Powell and Bush’s brother Jeb were leaving on Sunday for the region to underline US concern.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to visit Indonesia on Thursday, where he will probably issue a world appeal for more relief at a world-aid conference.
The unprecedented relief effort, along with heart-rending stories of loss, rescue and survival, have brought together an often divided world.
It is a race against time with UN health officials saying that the disease is set to kill as many as 50,000 more persons.
More than 1,00,000 are living in temporary shelters and camps in Indonesia alone, many suffering from diarrhoea, fever, respiratory infections, headaches and stomach problems.
In Banda Aceh tsunami water is now draining off to reveal the full extent of the horrific destruction and yet more bodies to count.
Fires burn around the clock to clear mounds of wooden debris, but the smoke cannot hide the smell of death pervading the city that was home to more than 3,00,000.
About Calang, 150 km (100 miles) to the south of Banda Aceh, Indonesian Cabinet minister Alwi Shihab said,“It’s not going to be a living area any more.” Tsunami killed 70 per cent of its 10,000 inhabitants.
There are tales of survival and reunion. Ten foreign tourists from Britain, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland were found alive on tiny Weh Island off Aceh, which had been popular with surfers and divers.
— Reuters
