ISLAND-AID UPDATES + NEWS: December 2004

LATEST NEWS + UPDATES
from ISLAND-AID in West Sumatra

ELECTRIC LAMB DEPARTS

by Island Aid on Friday, December 31 @ 11:42 PM

Electric Lamb departed Padang with supplies for 200 families and medical supplies. The first stop will be Pulau Pini in the Telos group then on to Pulau Banyak.

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INITIAL AID SUPPLIES SECURED

by Island Aid on Thursday, December 30 @ 2:48 PM

Co-ordination meetings with the Mayor of Padang followed by inspections of food, clothing and medical supplies. Medical support staff were were selected and briefed. IDEP staff arrived. Still no foreign aid supplies in Padang so we decide to purchase local drugs, food and material.

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HELP STARTS ARRIVING

by Island Aid on Wednesday, December 29 @ 12:01 PM

Aus Aid and embassy staff arrived in Padang. We rush to prepare boats and try to secure supplies and medicine to send out on our boats. A co-ordination meeting was held with the Padang Mayor who pledged doctors, supplies, medicine and clothing to our efforts. The Mayor requested a ferry from Jakarta.

Update: Letter of Endorsement
mayor_letter.jpg

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THE ELECTRIC LAMB APPEAL BEGINS

by Island Aid on Tuesday, December 28 @ 11:57 AM

The appeal was updated as the scale of the disaster unfolded. We recalled all our staff from holidays and start working shifts to get Electric Lamb seaworthy. IDEP and Aus Aid called offered help. Private funds start to come in.

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MENTAWAIS SAFE

by Island Aid on Monday, December 27 @ 11:58 AM

First mail out and follow-up contact with Australian Honorary Consul in Medan. Initial concern was for Mentawai area but after calling our office in Mapadegat it became clear the the tsunamis that reached the area were only about 1m in height and damage was restricted to minor flooding in a few towns. No impact damage reported.

Our concern shifted to Aceh & Nias. The media continued to ignore the impact in Indonesia while focusing on Thailand and Sri Lanka.

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THE BEGINNING

by Island Aid on Sunday, December 26 @ 9:10 PM

Around 1500 We were alerted by Mick Stevens, Australian Hon Con in Medan that there had been a terrible earthquake north of Sumatra and that a tidal wave had followed soon after. We had not felt the quake in the morning and had left for a wedding ceremony before the tidal surges started. Soon after Mick's call we called the water police in Muara who reported that the river was surging in and then out every 20-30 minutes and that they were helping our crew secure our boat with extra lines. It had rained all day and the river was running high. Friends in Padang started calling in very afraid and asking for more information. Television showed waves hitting Phuket and more and more reports started coming in. From the moment we turned our TV on the news just got worse every minute.

We checked the USGS website. Since the image below was published there have been 72 earthquakes in the region. Some 7.5 and many 6.5. No wonder the people are terrified.