Transcript Tsunami: Magnitude of Terror

Tsunami:
Magnitude of Terror
Relief Efforts
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Contents
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Emergency Relief
Rehabilitation
Reconstruction
Case Study: Relief Efforts in
Singapore
• Case Study: Singapore Armed Forces
(SAF)
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Relief Efforts
Emergency Relief
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Search and Rescue
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Many countries were quick to respond to the disaster. Some
countries sent military and medical personnel to affected areas.
Others provided military equipment to facilitate the search and
rescue operations.
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The tsunami brought about the devastation of transport and
communication infrastructure. Roads were destroyed, blocking
off access via land to some affected areas. Thus, aerial and sea
military transports were required to reach some rural areas.
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The force of the tsunami has altered the landscape of coastal
areas, rendering most conventional topological maps useless.
Therefore, ships with radar capabilities play supporting roles by
coordinating the operations, and carrying out surveillance work.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Identification of bodies
Techniques of preservation and identification
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Thousands of corpses of victims are stacked in temporary
morgues converted from Buddhist temples across southern
Thailand.
Some are kept in refrigerated containers, others are buried near
the temples in rows of shallow graves.
However, many bodies were already in various stages of
decomposition before they were found.
In addition, Thailand's hot and humid climate accelerated the
rate of decomposition, complicating efforts to identify them.
Facial recognition of bodies is almost impossible, as bodies are
bloated.
Therefore, experts are relying on modern methods to identify
victims. Forensic scientists rely on dental records to identify
Westerners, who generally have dental records since childhood.
For locals and other Asians, DNA must be used, as fingerprints
have dissolved, rendering fingerprint records totally useless.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Searching for missing loved ones
• The first stop for people in search of their loved ones is a
gallery of photographs displayed on bulletin boards at the
temporary morgues.
• Families scrutinize pictures for distinctive scars, jewellery or
facial features, hoping to find the bodies of their loved ones.
• Although the pictures were taken as soon as the bodies were
found, most bodies were already beyond recognition, and
covered in dirt, mud and debris.
• If the search is without success, they move on to a search
coordination centre where they supply information of dead
family members, such as records of surgeries
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Problems
• Thai authorities have decided that every corpse has to be
DNA tested, so that there is no mistake in identification.
• That means that even people who can provide evidence such
as prominent features have to wait for the test results, before
they can claim the bodies of their deceased family.
• Moreover, the quality of DNA degenerates over time, and
some entire families may have been wiped out, such that
their kin may not have DNA which is representative of the
families' genetic traits.
• Sadly, some bodies may never be recovered, as they have
been washed into the open sea.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Medical Aid
• Singapore has established a medical camp at the Secata
military camp outside Banda Aceh, which primary
objectives include providing outpatient treatment and onthe-spot surgeries.
• The medical team, which comprises of 6 doctors and 6
nurses from private hospitals, and 6 Singapore Armed
Forces (SAF) personnel, serves between 100 and 120
patients a day.
• In addition, the camp serves as a temporary shelter to
approximately 3000 tsunami survivors.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Provision of Food & Drinking Water
• In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, fresh water
became a scarce commodity across the region, as reservoirs
and other water sources were damaged or contaminated by
ocean water, and decomposing bodies.
• Experts estimate that this could lead to the widespread
occurrence of water borne diseases such as cholera, which
could cause up to twice as many deaths as the direct impact
of the tsunami.
• This was carried out in a series of efforts. Firstly, medical
workers have to locate water sources that are
uncontaminated, and protect them from contamination by
building cement walls, protective fencing and drainage
systems.
• Next, the people have to be educated on the various water
purification techniques. For example, chlorination, or the
addition of water purification tablets.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Provision of Food & Drinking Water
• Potable water is transported to affected areas, to meet the
demand. Water purification systems have been set up at
affected areas, to ensure a constant supply of clean water.
• There was also an acute shortage of food, as a result of the
tsunami.
• Farmlands and rice paddies have been inundated with salty
seawater, and it could be years before the soil can again
sustain crops.
• An estimated 53% of all of the protein in the dietary intake
of Indonesians come from fish.
• The destruction of the eco-system meant the lost of habitats
and a decrease in the number of fishes.
• Thus, the lost of the 2 main sources of food ensured its
scarcity.
• However, due to spontaneous international relief aid, almost
12,500 tons of food was delivered to Banda Aceh,
effectively alleviating the situation.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Relief Efforts
Rehabilitation
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Volunteer Work
• Volunteers can provide help to the tsunami victims in many
different ways. Some help in the orderly distribution of food,
clothes, drinking water and medicine and other basic
necessities.
• Some help clean up the debris and search for the missing.
While others bury or cremate the dead, treat the injured in
medical camps and relief centers or provide emotional
support to those who have lost family in the tragedy.
• It is estimated that there are 4 persons injured for every
person dead. Thus, medical staff is required to provide
health care, such as treatment of injury, and vaccination
against cholera and other water-borne diseases.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Volunteer Work
• In Thailand, local youth who are able to speak a
foreign language are volunteering their abilities to help
foreigners who are desperately looking for missing
family members.
• While groups of people from the online community
have made use of their technological expertise to set
up websites which promotes relief aid, or regarding
missing persons.
• For the rest of us, according to experts, giving money
is the most practical and effective assistance one can
give.
• It is not practical to donate food as the cost to transport
the food may outweigh the cost of the food itself. Food
supplies are also readily available locally.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Housing
• In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, houses were
swept away, and millions of survivors were made
homeless.
• Tents and tarpaulins are good temporary shelters, but
something more substantial is needed, as
reconstruction may take several years.
• The absence of permanent shelter increases the
likelihood of insect bites exposure to other parasitic
diseases.
• There are other inexpensive alternatives such as the
Global Village Shelter, a flat-pack hut made from
water and fire resistant cardboard-type material.
• It takes approximately 20 minutes to assemble, and
costs about US$400, about 5 times the cost of a tent.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Housing
• World Vision India is supplying the materials and the
labourers to construct temporary housing for 7,000
families made homeless by the tsunami in two districts
south of Chennai.
• Each new house is a 10 x 12 foot, temporary shelter of
fibre-cement board attached to a frame of wooden
poles.
• In the fishing village of Sonankuppam, workers are
putting up 25 temporary houses a day.
• As they work, bulldozers clear aside the debris of the
hundreds of thatch and brick homes demolished by the
tsunami.
• Locals are employed in the reconstruction, helping to
kick start economic activity.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Education
• Many children have lost the chance to attend school, as
the tsunami has destroyed school buildings.
• For some, the chaotic situation simply disallows the
privilege of an education.
• Restarting the education system gets children back into
a daily routine and helps them cope with the trauma.
• Moreover, it offers them a way escape from the vicious
cycle of poverty.
• Once tents or temporary structures had been set up for
children, the next stage was making sure that they
were engaged in activities beneficial for their mental
and psychological well being.
• However, exercise books, textbooks and equipment
had all been destroyed.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Relief Efforts
Reconstruction
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Tourism
Importance of Tourism Sector
• Most of the areas worst hit by the tsunami depend on
tourism to support its economy.
• Among them, Maldives is most badly affected.
• Tourism contributes to as much as 72.1% of the country's
GDP.
• An estimated 64.4% of the population's livelihood depends
on tourism and related industries.
• Tourism also contributes significantly to the economies of
other affected nations such as Indonesia, Thailand and
Malaysia.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Tourism
Phuket Action Plan
• Countries hit by the tsunami are appealing to the
international community to help in the reconstruction
process by booking a holiday to the region.
• The WTO has said tourism was the best form of aid the
international community could give to affected areas.
• During the talks held by the WTO on 1st February in Phuket,
tourism experts have drafted a plan, which aims to draw the
tourist back to the tsunami stricken areas.
• The agreement is named the "Phuket Action Plan", and
includes a comprehensive series of activities, which focuses
on saving jobs in the tourism industry, re-launching tourismrelated businesses, and increasing visitor numbers.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Tourism
Phuket Action Plan
• Participants in the meeting appealed to the international
community to support the implementation of the Plan
through financial aid, contribution of materials, or the loan
of expert staff.
• 14 countries have pledged assistance for the plan.
International organizations such as the International Finance
Corporation and the United Nations Development
Programme have also promised support.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Tourism
Quick Recovery Expected
• Only the coastal areas were badly hit by the waves, and 70%
of the tourist areas are intact.
• However, the tourism sector is suffering.
• In Maldives, hotel bookings are 50% that of pre-disaster
periods, even though only 3 tourists were killed in the
disaster.
• Hotel rooms in Thailand, which suffered the largest number
of tourist deaths, have an occupancy rate of only 20%.
• Travel to affected areas in Thailand is down by a third.
• Still, experts are optimistic of a quick recovery.
• Bali took only a year to recover from the nightclub bombing
in 2002.
• Tourism in Asia was back in full force after the SARS
outbreak in 2003.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Fishing Industry
Importance of Rebuilding Fishing Industry
• The fishing industry is an important aspect of the economies
of affected nations. In any disaster, the poorest of society
have always been affected most.
Problems Faced
• As the tsunami hit the coast, many fishing boats and
equipment including boats and fishing gear have been swept
away or damaged.
• Most of the people whose livelihoods depend on fishing
have no insurance to recover their loss of equipments.
• Moreover, the rumors that it is dangerous to eat fish that
have been in proximity to or have fed on victims' bodies has
dealt a further blow to the industry, and reports suggest that
fish consumption is dropping as a result.
• However, experts agree that such worries are unfounded,
and there was no evidence of an increased risk of fish or
seafood borne diseases in the affected regions.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Fishing Industry
Measures to rebuild Fishing Industry
• The European commission has adopted a decision to provide
immediate and long-term technical expertise and assistance
to the countries concerned.
• They will also assist in the implementation of the agreed
rehabilitation measures in this sector.
• European vessels destined to be scrapped because of
overfishing would be sent to affected areas.
• The EC and UN's Food and Agriculture Organization will
meet on March 12 to discuss ways to overcome the legal
barriers in the transfer of fishing vessels.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Fishing Industry
Measures to rebuild Fishing Industry
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), and the German technical cooperation
agency, has provided boat repair kits worth
US$380,000 to help restore the livelihoods of Sri
Lankan fishermen.
• The repair kits will be made available at boatyards set
up around the country by the Sri Lankan government
to repair those vessels salvaged by the surviving
fishermen.
• Furthermore, FAO will provide fishing nets and gear,
as well as outboard engines and will repair damaged
boats or replace those lost with new ones.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Agriculture
• As there were human casualties, undoubtedly, domestic farm
animals reared for commercial purposes were not spared.
• In affected areas, such livestock was vital in its contribution
to the economic livelihoods of the people.
• Some means of solving this includes restocking, with the
replacement of animals from other villages or regions less
affected.
• Moreover, proper sanitary conditions have to be established,
not just for the health of human, but for that of the livestock
as well.
• The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United
Nations (FAO) will prepare appropriate guidelines,
checklists and specifications for rehabilitating household
livestock enterprises.
• The findings would then be made available to the relief
organizations, so that they are able to effectively meet the
differing specific needs of various affected areas.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Agriculture
• The plains were flooded by the saline sea water, and many
acres of crops was laid waste.
• Even as the water had evaporated, the problem persisted, as
the salt remained.
• The salt dissolved in ground water, decreasing its water
potential, and restricting the uptake of water from the soil
water.
• The tsunami also caused soil erosion, as the fertile topsoil is
washed away.
• To begin the reconstruction of the agricultural sector,
Equipment and other agriculture inputs such as chemical
fertilizers would have to be made available to affected areas.
• Infrastructure such as roads has to be re-established.
• Furthermore, agriculture requires a constant supply of fresh
water.
• Thus, water sources with a supply of fresh water would have
to be located, storage and irrigation facilities would have to
be built.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Donations
• The international community was spontaneous in the
effort to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster
relief to affected nations.
• The World Bank estimates the total amount of aid
required to be US$5 Billion.
• As of 8th February 2005, the total amount pledged by
governments, International aid organisations, NonGovernment Organisations (NGOs) and private
individuals has already exceeded this amount, and
stands at US$5.5 Billion.
• Of this amount, donations of governments from 87
countries make up US$5.1 Billion.
• Private persons and institutions have contributed the
balance of US$ 393 Million.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Relief Efforts
Case Study: Relief Efforts in Singapore
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Case Study: Relief Efforts in
Singapore
• Volunteers can help by coordinating the relief efforts locally.
• For example, many local volunteers are required for the
packing of relief kits and other non-monetary relief aid.
• Typical relief kits consist of cups, plates, cutlery, buckets,
bowls, bed sheets, soap, clothes and sleeping mats.
• Furthermore, some people are over enthusiastic to provide
help to the victims and yet are ill informed of the local
situation, thus resulting in the donation of impractical items.
• For example, too revealing clothes are unsuitable for the
generally conservative Asian society.
• Certain food products may spoil even before it reaches its
destination.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Case Study: Relief Efforts in
Singapore
• Yet there are others who are not directly involved in the
relief effort or do not have the financial capability to make a
significant impact, and yet do their part for the victims of the
tsunami.
• For example, students and members of the public have took
to the streets for collection of donations. This activity has
been encouraged by instituitions all over Singapore.
• The Singapore government has pledged SGD 5m to relief
efforts initially, including SGD 1m to the Singapore Red
Cross Society.
• As of January 8, SRCS has collected more than SGD 27m in
donations from the public.
• At the recent emergency disaster summit in Jakarta, the
government has pledged an additional USD 10m to help
victims of the tsunami disaster.
• In addition, Temasek Holdings, a government linked
investment corporation, has set aside USD 10m for relief
work.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Case Study: Relief Efforts in
Singapore
• The government has also offered the use of its air and
naval bases as a staging area to the United Nations and
other relief agencies.
• The United Nations has also accepted Singapore's
offer to set up a UN Regional Coordination Centre to
coordinate relief efforts in affected areas.
• Singapore has also offered to rebuild hospitals and
clinics in Aceh.
• The Singaporean humanitarian relief operation
involves more than 1200 military and civil defence
personnel.
• The humanitarian assistance provided by its military,
medical and rescue teams is estimated to cost SGD
20m.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Relief Efforts
Case Study: Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Accomplishments
• They created land and air bridges by building two beach
landing points and seven helicopter landing sites in
Meulaboh.
• The SAF field hospitals in Meulaboh and Banda Aceh cured
5174 patients
• 190,000kg of relief supplies was ferried by Landing Ship
Tanks.
• RSAF Chinook and Super Puma helicopters flew 143
missions, ferried 150,000kg of relief supplies and carried
2,500 passengers.
• C-130 and Fokker-50 aircraft flew 76 missions, ferried
240,000kg of relief loads and carried 1,200 passengers.
• The engineers built a modular building, approximately 139
square metre and two logistics storage areas.
• The SAF set up a mobile air traffic control tower and air
traffic control support.
• About 70 personnel would continue assistance with the
presence of two liaison teams and three Chinooks
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Experiences
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The Navy managed to obtain the only and special hand-traced
sea chart of the Meulaboh area in western Sumatra, which was
critical for navigation in the unfamiliar waters of Meulaboh.
This could only be done due to the close relationship developed
over the years between the SAF and the Tentera Nasional
Indonesia (TNI).
The SAF commanders were familiar with the key Indonesian
military personnel running the emergency relief work in Aceh
and they spoke their language and knew how to relate to the
Acehnese, unlike many other foreign troops.
Hence the TNI officers were comfortable with the presence of
the SAF officers and were impressed with the SAF's low profile
and the sincerity of its assistance.
The SAF were surprised by the resilient and the will to live of
the Indonesian people, although exhausted, they still continued
to work tirelessly to clear debris and remove bodies.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
Conclusions
• The SAF realized that careful and forward planning and well
thought-out strategies and policies were important.
• Team work also played an important role. This shows the
close integration between army, navy and air force.
• The SAF are professional and flexible when faced with
difficult circumstances.
• They found the best way to get ashore, to bring equipment
in, to fly helicopters to places unknown, and to locate places
to land.
• The field engineers found sea landing sites as well as clear
and create new landing sites for heavy helicopters.
• The success of Singapore's biggest-ever tsunami deployment
has boosted the public's confidence and pride in the SAF.
• The mission has given the SAF more belief in their system,
in the way they do things, in the way they train and in the
way the leaders lead their comrades.
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
References
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)
References
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"OPERATION FLYING EAGLE - The inside story of the
SAF's tsunami relief deployment" . "AsiaOne News Link" .
[Online]
http://nnewslink.asia1.com.sg/brsweb/read_1.brsw?this=result
&QDT=1&QFLST=HD%3AHG%3APD&DB=ST%400405&QSTR=%28%28Operation+Flying+Eagle+inside+story+%
29%29.HD.&DTSTR=%28%28PD+%3E=+20041012%29+an
d+%28PD+%3C=+20050314%29%29&PSZ=30&MAXL=400
&SUMY=2&HLT=1&LSTN=0&ID=000006040@ST05 [14
March 2005]
"Setting up a lifeline to Aceh" . "Straits Times Interactive" .
[Online]
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,5562,301708,
00.html? [20 February 2005]
"Mission Accomplised" . "Straits Times Interactive" . [Online]
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,5562,302893,
00.html? [27 February 2005]
ThinkQuest Team 01724 (Oct 04 – May 05)