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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Tonga prisoners help out with tsunami relief work

Samoan rescue workers stack human bones washed from graves by the tsunami near Vava'u in Samoa, October 5, 2009. The ferocious waves were unleashed by a 8.0 magnitude undersea quake which rattled the region on September 29, leaving as many as 180 people dead in Samoa, neighbouring American Samoa and the Pacific island nation of Tonga. Photo courtesy AFP

Indonesia ramps up aid effort a week after quake
Relief agencies were racing against time Wednesday to get aid to remote Indonesian villages still cut off a week after a massive earthquake devastated parts of Sumatra. The 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the western coast of the island last Wednesday, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving half a million homeless, according to United Nations' estimates. The official death toll from the Indonesian government remained at 704, although the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it expects the final number to pass 3,000. UN humanitarian response coordinator Rachel Lavy said there was no shortage of aid supplies, and more was on the way aboard US warships which were expected to arrive off Sumatra by Friday. The biggest challenge was distribution, she said, especially in the coastal hinterland where hundreds of people were buried alive in landslides which obliterated entire villages and destroyed roads and communications. "Agencies are still reporting pockets where they found people who say they haven't received any assistance," she said in the worst-hit city of Padang. "The first three months are often the most critical. We need to make sure that people have got shelter in that time, they need access to food and medical care... in that 90-days period. There are no signs of disease outbreaks, despite shortages of drinking water and the hundreds of decaying bodies that remain buried beneath the rubble, Lavy said. "We're not seeing any rise in the reported incidence of communicable diseases, and that's a very good thing," she said. The government estimates around 100,000 homes have been destroyed, meaning up to 500,000 people could be in need of temporary shelter, according to the UN and the Red Cross.
by Staff Writers
 Nuku'Alofa (AFP) Oct 7, 2009
 Prisoners from the Tongan island of Niuatoputapu have been helping with relief work after their jail was destroyed by last week's tsunami, officials said Wednesday.

Nine people were killed, eight badly injured and hundreds left homeless when the tsunami smashed into the island following a huge earthquake.

None of the island's 10 prisoners was hurt, despite their jail being smashed and they have since been helping with clearing some of the devastation under the supervision of prison guards and police.

"The ongoing joke is the prisoners are fine but the prison is gone," Tongan government spokesman Alfred Soakai told AFP.

"We sent up some extra police officers and prison warders to assist with the law and order situation, not that it's a problem anyway."

More than half of the 228 homes on the island in Tonga's far north are damaged and tents have been erected in the three main villages to house those affected, Soakai said.

Water supplies are slowly being restored and UN and Australian aid officials were flying to Niuatoputapu Wednesday to assess needs for long-term rebuilding.

At least 136 people were killed in Samoa by the tsunami and 32 have been confirmed dead in American Samoa.

Tonga, a poor nation of about 110,000 people, has given 500,000 pa'anga (262,000 US dollars) to Samoa and 100,000 pa'anga to American Samoa to boost their relief funds.

"They are worse off than we are, they had more loss of life," Soakai said.

earlier related report
 Vietnam typhoon damage estimate hits 785 mln dlrs: UN
 The typhoon that struck Vietnam last week had caused almost 800 million dollars worth of damage, a United Nations official in the country said Wednesday.

The latest estimate came as the country invited foreign non-government groups (NGOs) already working in the country to provide additional assistance, said Ugo Blanco, who is coordinating disaster response for the United Nations.

"This appeal was launched yesterday," he said.

Although the appeal did not specify a target amount, the government's estimate of damage across 14 provinces has risen to 785 million dollars, Blanco said.

According to government data released on Monday, the typhoon killed 163 people and left 17 missing when it struck on September 29 after killing at least 295 people in the Philippines.

Aid workers say victims need food, water and sanitation assistance.

"We have the first indications that there are some water-borne diseases," including diarrhoea and skin problems, Blanco said. He did not have a figure for the number of people who have become ill.

Apart from NGO assistance, foreign governments have already announced about three million dollars worth of emergency aid, Blanco said.

An estimated three million people in Vietnam have been affected by the typhoon, said the Red Cross, which on Friday launched an international appeal for 4.75 million dollars to help 210,000 of the neediest victims.

The United States said Wednesday it had provided another 500,000 dollars to support the Red Cross appeal, on top of 100,000 dollars given earlier.

While emergency relief is urgently needed, the government said the rebuilding of houses, schools and medical clinics had already begun.

Vietnam suffers annually from tropical storms and typhoons, but this disaster is one of the worst to hit the nation in recent years.

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
WFP sending copters, dinghies to flood-hit Philippines
 Rome (AFP) Oct 6, 2009
 The World Food Programme said Tuesday it was providing helicopters and dinghies to help get food to hundreds of thousands of people stranded following violent storms and flooding in the Philippines. "Many needy people live in areas that still remain inaccessible because of the widespread flooding," WFP's director in the Philippines Stephen Anderson said in a statement from the UN ... read more






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