Indonesia mobilizes aircraft, warships to help tsunami victims

Tue, 02 Nov 2010

Jakarta - Indonesia mobilized aircraft and navy ships Tuesday to distribute aid to survivors of last week's tsunami on the Mentawai islands, an official said.

Improved weather and telecommunications links have allowed aid workers to deliver supplies to remote areas after storms and high seas had forced them to turn back earlier, said Nelis Zuliasri, a spokeswoman for the National Disaster Management Agency.

"Aid supplies have now reached all areas where there are displaced people," Zuliasri said.

"However, the weather is constantly changing, so we have to make the best of today's better conditions," she said Tuesday.

She said six helicopters, one C-130 Hercules military cargo plane, five navy warships and other smaller vessels were involved in the relief effort.

The death toll from the October 25 tsunami, triggered by a magnitude-7.7 earthquake, was revised down to 427 after some of those reported killed were found alive, according to the Regional Disaster Management Agency in West Sumatra province in its latest update.

Seventy-five people were listed as missing while about 500 were injured, the agency said.

About 15,000 people were displaced, and 700 homes were damaged.

The Mentawai chain, consisting of 70 islands and islets 150 kilometers off the western coast of Sumatra, is a popular surfing destination. It has a population of about 68,000 people.

A local aid group working in the Mentawais, Yayasan Tanngul Bencana, said survivors were in urgent need of food, tents, blankets and medicines.

"They also need psychosocial counseling to help them deal with the loss of their loved ones," said Life Seli, a group spokesman.

Zuliasri said her agency had earmarked 1 billion rupiah (112,000 dollars) for a two-week emergency phase.

"We will seek additional funds should there be a need to extend the emergency phase," she said, adding that a comprehensive assessment of damage and losses would be conducted after the emergency phase was over.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates meet, causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In September 2009 a magnitude-7.6 earthquake hit Padang and neighboring districts in West Sumatra, killing more than 1,100 people.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351452,warships-help-tsunami-victims.html.