January 22, 2005

Hello Vince and all,

Today was another hectic day of flying relief to Meulaboh. Mike and Mannan are still out flying as I write. This morning we were discussing a way to bring this disaster into perspective for those who haven't experienced it first hand.

The death toll in Indonesia alone will exceed 200,000. For reference, that is the death toll from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Nuclear blasts combined. However, the damage to property is about 100 times that of those two blasts. Think about that for a few minutes.....

Banda Aceh had a population about the same as that of Hiroshima in 1945. Meulaboh was about half the population of Nagasaki before the tsunami. These are major cities utterly destroyed. That does not include the 150 mile coastline in between, clotted with towns that were also completely destroyed. Look at digitalglobe.com. Think about being 1 of the 2 remaining survivors from a town of 3000. Think about it!

Then think about the disaster operations of trying to recover from 2 nuclear bombs in a remote area with few resources. No wonder there has been confusion. No wonder there seems to be little organization. No wonder our efforts have saved lives.

What has come through loud and clear from this operation is that the recovery from this disaster has ridden on the shoulders of individuals like The Guam Flying Relief Mission, Susi Air, and other small organizations able to move quickly and efficiently in delivering aid efficiently when and where needed. The major organizations are still in confusion. The cost of these early operations has been borne by the small operators. Let me give credit to the American and Singaporean miliotary who were here rapidly and in strength.

The Red Cross, represented in the early days by some self motivated Japanese without organizational support was helping a lot. The Koreans are also here, along with the Germans, Spanish, Indonesians, Danish and Norwegians. I asked one of the Red Cross people if the Americans were present. He said there were 2 (people, not groups) Americans in Banda Aceh.

Today we saw an amazing sight. Near sunset on the 27th day after the disaster, we saw a UN helicopter in the sky. Susi Air landed first in the area on December 28, we landed in Indonesia on the 7th of January.

Where should our support go?

Joe

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