Flooding in the southeast part of Australia seems a bit like deja vu. This same area of the states Queensland and New South Wales was hit by major flooding in January 2011. According to the Lutheran Church of Australia, the damages have not reached the same levels as last year. Though coming on the heels of last year’s flood the effects may be amplified as people are still recovering. Please keep the people of this area and the Lutheran Church of Australia in prayer, that they may be granted the patience and peace of God in this time of renewed disaster.

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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“Our project office in Chidambaram which is situated 40 kilometer away from the center of the cyclone also felt the intensity. The devastation is similar to that of the Tsunami in 2004. As per media and govt. reports, the cyclone killed 42 people, while many people are injured and about 20,000 people became homeless and are taking shelter in relief camps and makeshift arrangement shelters.”
Mr. B.N. Biswal
Deputy Manager – Emergency
Lutheran World Service India Trust (LWSIT)

The quote above from Mr. Biswal is describing the impact of Cyclone Thane, which struck the southern region of India on December 30 and how it affected the offices of LWSIT, a partner of the ELCA, in the area. As the cyclone’s damage was mainly focused on the eastern seaboard area of Tamil Nadu. The most affected populations were those already living in poverty (day laborers, fisher folk and farmers). These people make up the majority of those who lost their homes but now must also deal with wreaked boats, ruined crops and a lack of work.

The massive flooding has led to a severe shortage of drinkable water as wells and ponds are flooded with salt water. The winds, which reached up to 87 mph, uprooted many trees and snapped power lines, leading to blocked roads and downed communications. Also, a food shortage has raised local prices to a point beyond the means of many poorer families. Though there has been an affect to most of the crops in the area, the hardest hit were the rice paddies. They were due to be harvested in the coming weeks but many acres have been completely destroyed.

The ELCA’s continues to be in contact with local partners on the ground as they assess the situation. Word has been received from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI) that they are planning an immediate response of food items for 5500 families in 55 villages and 1000 huts material assistance and repair as well as 6 institutional building repairs. Check back for updates as the response continues to be solidified. And please keep the our partners and the people affected by Thane in your prayers.

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How’s that for timing? I’m in Bangladesh in part to visit our partner Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Services (RDRS) to see some of their projects on disaster risk reduction and climate change programs and the video they made with DanChurchAid on the same topic won an award from COP17 climate conference in Durban this past week.

We had the privilege of viewing Ripple during our LWF communications workshop and I have to agree that it’s a great video. It gave me some well-needed background before I begin my visits today, especially around the difficulties caused by chars. Chars are fertile sand bars left after flooding that run a high risk of re-flooding since they by nature exist in flood planes. Since Bangladesh is an extremely population dense country, when chars form they are almost immediately inhabited by the poorest members of Bengali society. Since they have a high risk of flooding there tends to run a cycle of re-impoverishment for people living on them as they continually are flooded out of their homes.

I would highly recommend taking 11 minutes out of your day to view the video, especially if you’re from Australia (it’ll make sense when you view it).

Over the last three days I attended an LWF workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The purpose was to bring communications personnel from agencies, like the ELCA, and country programs, like Life With Dignity (LWD) in Cambodia, to talk about how to better share our story of the church active in the world, particularly around disasters. In the spirit of the workshops purpose I asked Dr. Sam Inn, Executive Director of LWD, if he would give me his thoughts on the situation of flooding in Cambodia. Below is a summary of the main points of that conversation.

To get some background on the situation and the initial ELCA response, see the previous post SE Asia Floods: ELCA Responds in Cambodia & Thailand.

Overview
According to Dr. Inn, the flooding has affected the areas mainly along the Mekong River and around Tonle Sap Lake, though 17 of the 24 provinces have been affected in one way or another. Luckily the capital, Phnom Penh, has not been affected. The situation has led to 250 deaths and 1.2 million people strongly affected.

Short Term Response
The main issue he raised in the short term has been the displacement of people by flooding. To address this LWD has been working with to provide emergency food kits in two provinces of rice, cooking oil, ionic salt, a water purifier and mosquito nets.

Long Term Response
Currently LWD is helping to conduct a post-flood assessment over the next 4-6 months to determine the long term needs of the people in affected areas. Dr. Inn shared that the most likely needs will be around people’s livelihood, mainly in agriculture. Since the rice crops have been affected, the response will probably focus on supplying rice seed. They also may distribute vegetable seed for home gardens and poultry for livelihood improvement. Overall Dr. Inn believes they have gotten past the worst of the disaster in Cambodia and LWD will now be focusing their energies on helping the affected people return to and rebuild their lives.

Update on Thailand
As to the situation in Thailand, their Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has reported 689 deaths and over 4.4 million people affected as of today. They also are reporting that heavy rains in the southern part of the country may lead to further flooding over the weekend. Dr. Inn also shared that with the flooding of Bangkok, much of the media attention has been focused on the urban areas and not on those affected in the rural parts of the country.

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