Aid organizations around the world mobilized massive relief efforts Monday to meet what UN officials called the “unprecedented” need caused by towering tsunamis that scoured coasts from Indonesia to East Africa, claiming tens of thousands of lives and displacing millions.
The difficulties posed by the enormity of the catastrophe are magnified by the unusually large number of people and the 10 nations involved, according to Yvette Stevens, director of the Geneva-based UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The UN is “used to dealing with disasters in one country,” she said Monday. “But I think something like this, spread across many countries and islands, is unprecedented. We have not had this before.”
Born of an underwater 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the western coast of Indonesia, the powerful tsunamis churned across the Indian Ocean as high as 40 feet and as fast as 500 m.p.h.
Sucking sunbathers out to sea and tossing ships onto the shore, they destroyed hundreds of thousands of Asian homes and businesses before eventually slamming into the African coast in Somalia.
As the death toll from Sunday’s disaster rose, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordination Jan Egeland warned of a “second wave” of devastation posed by disease. Lack of clean drinking water, sanitation, food and shelter threaten to sicken millions of people, he said, particularly in the heavily populated and hardest-hit countries of India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Many affected areas still were inaccessible and without communication Monday, especially in western Indonesia near the epicenter of the quake. “We may only know the full effects of this tremendous emergency weeks from now,” Egeland said.
“Some 20-plus-thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell, referring to the need for a sustained aid effort in the weeks to come.
U.S. pledges $15 million in aid
The United States already has pledged about $15 million in cash and commodities such as food, water and medicine.
Addressing reporters Monday at the State Department, moments after speaking by telephone with President Bush, Powell said the U.S. expected to donate about $4 million in emergency relief to the Red Cross by the end of the day.
A White House spokesman said Bush, who is on vacation, is monitoring the disaster from his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Alerted to the disaster by the U.S. Geological Survey at about 1:30 a.m. EST Sunday, a UN assessment and coordination team was on its way to Sri Lanka within 12 hours, with a second team following to the Maldives, said Brian Grogan, spokesman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also dispatched search-and-rescue and evacuation teams within hours of the tragedy, said Jackie Flowers, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Washington.
Because many aid organizations have offices in the region, she pointed out, a significant number of staff and supplies already were on the ground.
“We have pre-positioned stocks of supplies strategically placed around the region,” she said. “That’s important, because not only does it help move supplies more quickly, but also more cost-effectively.”
Offers of aid poured in from around the world.
EU ready with $40 million
The European Union pledged as much as $40 million. Australia flew in drinking water and offered about $8 million. Japan sent a 20-member medical team to Sri Lanka, and France dispatched about 100 doctors and rescue specialists along with 6 tons of drugs and medical equipment to the island nation.
Germany, Canada, Ireland and Kuwait each contributed at least $1 million.
Aid, in the form of supplies, medical expertise and cash, also came from Pakistan, Greece, Israel, Britain, Sweden, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Spain.
The U.S. Pacific Command, which has its headquarters in Hawaii, dispatched three P-3 Orion planes from Japan to assist in search-and-rescue operations and survey the destruction, said Lt. Col. Bill Bigelow, a spokesman for the joint command.
The turboprop planes, expected to arrive in Thailand overnight Tuesday, are used primarily to hunt enemy submarines, but their sophisticated surveillance gear is perfect for such a crisis, Bigelow said.
He also said five C-130 cargo planes in Japan were being loaded with emergency supplies, including food, clothing and temporary shelter.
Bigelow said helicopters and other equipment also could be dispatched quickly after an assessment in the coming days.
About 600 members of the command’s 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade returned about a week ago from a disaster-relief mission in the Philippines following deadly flooding there.
American ambassadors in four countries–India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka–handed out a total of about $400,000 in emergency money early in the crisis, Powell said.
The U.S. Agency for International Development said it soon would have a 21-member assessment team working throughout the region to identify and coordinate priority needs.
Aid agencies
In the Chicago area, the following are among those accepting contributions for aid to the victims of the earthquake and tsunamis:
Royal Thai consulate general: 700 N. Rush St., Chicago, IL 60611-2504, 312-664-3129, www.thaichicago.net
CARE: 70 E. Lake St., Suite 1430, Chicago, IL 60601, 312-641-1430, careusa.org
Indian Consulate: 455 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive, Suite 850, Chicago, IL 60611, 312-595-0405, chicago.indianconsulate.com
Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha temple in Bartlett: 888-CARE-881, www.BAPScare.org
Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple: 520 Devonshire Lane, Crystal Lake, IL 60014, www.blue-lotus-temple.org
Many international agencies are also accepting contributions for quake aid, including:
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund): 215-241-7000, www.afsc.org
American Red Cross, International Response Fund: 800-HELP-NOW, www.redcross.org
Direct Relief International: 805-964-4767, www.directrelief.org
International Medical Corps: 800-481-4462,www.imcworldwide.org
Operation USA: 800-678-7255, www.opusa.org
Save the Children (Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund): 800-728-3843, www.savethechildren.org
US Fund for UNICEF: 800-FOR-KIDS, www.unicefusa.org
