The following report from Lutheran Iligan – Disaster Relief Chairman Rev. Xavier James B. Palattao is a bit dated (Dec 21) but it gives a good overview of the aftermath in Iligan City following the devastation of Typhoon Washi (local name: Sendong) on Dec 16. Also, there is a few pages of pictures at the end that tell in more than words what the damage really looks like (photo on the right is from the set).

Of note in the report is the explanation of why Iligan City is not getting more aid. Within the pictures see how the dwellings are so closely clustered on the edge of the river banks. When the waters rose quickly these people, some of the poorest in the area, were caught right in the middle of it. And so those least equipped to handle a disaster were the most impacted, an unfortunately common theme in disaster.

Take a few moments to learn more in the Iligan City Disaster Report. (pdf)

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The following update is from Sherry Panggabean of the Center for Disaster Risk Management and Community Development Studies (CDRM&CDS), located in Medan, Indonesia. This program is sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation.

A powerful earthquake hit Simeulue Island (map) in Aceh Province (150 km off Western coast of Aceh and about 140 km Northwest of Nias Island) at 1:36 a.m. Wednesday 11 January 2012. The quake was registered at 7.6 in magnitude by the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, but the agency revised the magnitude to 7.1, an official said. Smaller quakes between 5.0 – 5.4 magnitudes occurred following the 7.1 quakes. A tsunami warning had been issued but then the agency lifted it as the danger did not occur.

The main shock had the people living in the coastal area in Meulaboh and Ulele (Western coast of Aceh Province) fleeing to escape the areas by up to one kilometer for fear of tsunami, along with the instruction from authorities to stay away from the coast, Ibnu Sa’ad, head of emergency unit of provincial disaster management and mitigation agency said. Ibnu also said,”The people have rushed out their homes since the quake hit, but they did not panic,” However, local Metro TV reported the quake triggered panic in Meulaboh town. Nevertheless, Ibnu said, “So far the situation is safe”. According to him, the authority have not received any report of building collapsed or damaged, or people hurts, after their officials spread to the scene.

It was reported in the news that the quakes were also felt in Nias and Medan. However, communication networks in Nias has been down since then. I have tried to reach all contacts in Nias since morning to get the latest update, from CDRM&CDS staff, church partners, UNDSS, to local government, but has been unsuccessful.

No emergency alert from the government as of now. I will update you when I get more information.

– Sherry Panggabean

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Two recent reports from Arie Den Toom, the LWF South Sudan Country Representative, give an overview of the situation in Jonglei State in South Sudan. The area has been declared by the government as a disaster zone following clashes between two ethnic groups, the Lou-Nuer and the Murle. The two groups have been locked in a feud that involving cattle raids and abductions. According to Arie Den Toom, between 20,000 and 50,000 members of the Murle community have been displaced over the last seven months. There have also been over a 1,000 casualties from the fighting.

This area is also the center of the LWF’s work in the area and so they have been very involved in tracking the situation and formulating a response. Please keep the people of the region in your prayers as hostilities hopefully cease and people begin to move back to normal activities. Also, read more about the situation in the two LWF reports:

• 1st SitRep on Crisis Unfolding in Jonglei State (Jan 5, 2012)
• 2nd SitRep on Crisis Unfolding in Jonglei State (Jan 9, 2012)

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

Colombia has had more than its fair share of rain this year. This has also been a region-wide issue with Colombia’s neighbors to the north in Central America (Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala) and southern Mexico, also being it by over 10 days of heavy rain in October. This led to widespread flooding and mudslides. One of the major effects was that much of the year-end harvest and seedlings for next year’s planting were destroyed.

A Lutheran World Federation (LWF) blog posts about Colombia gives an update on how the initial emergency relief work has finished up there. The response was made more difficult because of the armed conflict that has been ongoing for 20 years between guerrillas, paramilitaries and the army in the Choco district of the country. This means that for many in the region it is not safe to venture far from their village. This in a district that is home to some of the hardest hit and poorest people in the country.

To help meet the need the LWF was part of an immediate relief effort to deliver 200 food kits to the hardest hit families in the region. They also helped distribute seeds for subsistence crops to help restore food security. This is particularly important for the indigenous populations subsist off of exchanging food.

You can find the full post here: Food, seeds and hope in the ACT Colombia flood response

Also, check out the ACT Alliance overpage Colombia: Conflicts and Floods to see pictures and a video of situation.

To learn more about the ELCA response in Central America see the ELCA Disaster webpage Central America Flooding.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

A new post on the Lutheran World Federation-Department of World Service (LWF-DWS) blog “Fruit Salad” gives an update on the situation in Dollo Ado. This is the camp is located on the Ethiopian side of the Somalia-Ethiopia border. The LWF works here to provide water and sanitation services. The camp has received tens of thousands of new arrivals from Somalia following the drought and famine crisis that continues to affect the Horn of Africa. In May-June 2011 alone, the camp took in over 55,000 new Somali arrivals.

This new update shows that the number of arriving refugees has dropped slightly from 170/day to 100-160/day. Yet, because of the massive number of earlier arrivals the transit camp (first stop for refugees) still has over 8,000 refugees waiting to gain access to the main camp area. The transit camp was originally designed to hold a maximum of 1500. LWF in its work to provide water and sanitation has had to truck in water to meet the increased demand. They have also upped waste management cleaning to a daily activity.

Within the main site a new camp (Bur Amino) has opened with a planned capacity of 40,000. So far 3,000 refugees have moved into this new camp. LWF is working to provide water not just for the refugees but the host community (local Ethiopian community) as well.

Read the full update: Update on Dollo Ado Refugee Camps 27th December 2011

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

In mid-December the ELCA, through its International Disaster Response program, approved a disbursement of $102,337 to support a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Community-Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) project in the Turkana district of Kenya. Now you might be wondering what CMDRR is or you might be wondering why it needs to be instituted in Turkana. And you might even be asking where Turkana is. Well I’m glad you asked. This post will answers these three questions. If you have any others, please share them in the comments.
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