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In Brief
Revised Preliminary Appeal No. 28/2004; Operations Update no. 29; Period covered: 25-26 January 2005; Appeal coverage: 90.6%
Appeal history:
- Preliminary appeal launched on 26 December 2004 for CHF 7,517,000 (USD 6,658,712 or EUR 4,852,932) for 6 months to assist 500,000 beneficiaries.
- Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: CHF 1,000,000.
- Revised Preliminary Appeal issued on 29 December 2004, for CHF 67,005,000 (USD 59,152,246 or EUR 53,439,988) for 2 million beneficiaries for 6-8 months.
- The Preliminary Appeal was originally launched titled "Bay of Bengal: Earthquake and Tsunamis". The title was subsequently changed to "Asia: Earthquake and Tsunamis" in the Revised Preliminary Appeal launched on 29 December 2004.
- Operations update No. 16 issued on 12 January 2005 revised the Revised Preliminary Appeal 28/2004 budget to CHF 183,486,000 (USD 155,286,000 or EUR 118,669,000) with programme extensions for Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives and East Africa.
Highlights of the Day:
- The Federation's Recovery Assessment Team arrived in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, today to begin assessment and planning of recovery and rehabilitation, together with counterparts from Indonesian Red Cross.
- A logistics team is now in place in Indonesia with the capability to deliver and store 1,000 MT of relief goods per week, as well as Emergency Response Unit equipment and support personnel, using both air and sea routes.
- All water and sanitation personnel are in place and able to supply water, on a regular basis and without any disruption, to over 90,000 people.
- The Field Assessment and Coordination Team is phasing out in the Maldives, handing over this week to the newly arrived head of delegation. Relief coordinator and water and sanitation delegates have been recruited.
- Electricity restored to over 2,300 people in the Maldives and figure to increase as installation continues of the 24 generators provided to the government by the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Background
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck the area off the western coast of northern Sumatra on Sunday morning, 26 December 2004, at 7:59 am local time (00:59 GMT) triggered massive tidal waves, or tsunamis, that inundated coastal areas in countries all around the Indian Ocean rim - from Indonesia to Somalia. Sri Lanka, the Indonesian province of Aceh, four states of southern India, the Maldives, coastal areas of Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar were the most severely affected. The earthquake epicentre was located at 3.30 N, 95.78E at a depth of 10 kilometres. The area is historically prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the margins of tectonic plates. However, tidal waves of this magnitude are rare and therefore the level of preparedness was very low.
Summary of the human toll caused by the tsunami as of 26 January
|
Countries
|
Dead
|
Missing
|
Displaced
|
Homeless
|
Sources
|
| Indonesia |
228,000
|
---
|
n/a
|
617,159
|
Government
|
| Sri Lanka |
30,957
|
5,644
|
396,295
|
480,000
|
Government
|
| India |
10,749
|
5,640
|
647,599
|
20,000
|
Government
|
| Maldives |
82
|
21
|
21,663
|
n/a
|
Government
|
| Thailand |
5,388
|
3,132
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
Government
|
| Myanmar |
90
|
10
|
n/a
|
3,200
|
Government
|
| Malaysia |
68
|
50
|
n/a
|
4,296
|
Delegation
|
| East Africa |
314
|
n/a
|
52,000
|
n/a
|
Government
|
| Total |
275,648
|
14,497
|
>1,117, 557
|
>1,124,655
|
Thousands of staff, relief and medical personnel, and volunteers of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies of the tsunami-affected countries have provided a vital initial response, in search and rescue, clean-up, providing temporary shelter and immediate relief assistance, emergency medical services, psychological first aid and tracing. It is estimated that over 5,000 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and 76 relief and medical teams have been mobilized in the disaster-affected areas.
The Federation immediately launched a Preliminary Emergency Appeal on the day of the disaster with a focus on Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives. On 3 January 2005, the ICRC launched budget extensions additional to its 2005 Emergency Appeal for Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Along with initial support from the country and regional delegations, the Federation deployed within 24-72 hours three Field Assessment and Coordination Teams (FACT) and 18 Emergency Response Units (ERU) in the sectors of water and sanitation, health care, aid distribution, telecommunications, and logistics/transportation to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives.
A total of 77 relief flights have now arrived in the various affected countries and a further 31 flights are in the Federation relief pipeline, making a total of 108 relief flights coordinated through the Federation.
The Federation and the ICRC in Geneva are currently working on an organizational framework for Movement coordination in the tsunami operations. A note has been sent out to national societies and delegations on this today, for consultation. It is expected that the framework, which will set in place strong platforms for coordination, will be finalized shortly, and a final note will be sent out by the Federation and the ICRC next week.
Operational Developments
Indonesia
Overview
Some sense of normality is said to have returned to Banda Aceh, as many shops reopen, fruit stalls ply their streetside wares and traffic resumes its inexorable flow. But there remains a stark line delineating what was once also part of the city and is now a no man’s land - uncompromisingly flattened. This is where the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia/PMI) volunteers still find bodies on a daily basis. And the search for loved ones, with its often heartbreaking disappointment, continues.
It is but more of the same along the hundreds of kilometres down the west coast. It has now been estimated that a fifth of Aceh’s local government officials, half its doctors and a third of school teachers are dead or missing.
Still, life goes on somehow for the survivors of the tsunami disaster. On Tuesday, 25 January, Banda Aceh’s civil servants began to return to work - some of them simply showing up to let their superiors know that they were still alive. And today, approximately 130 schools - mostly elementary - were scheduled to reopen. The head of Aceh’s education office said that some 130 buildings and 141 emergency schools in refugee camps have been made ready, with assistance from many organizations. According to a World Bank report, some 45,000 schoolchildren were killed in the disaster, as well as 2,300 teachers and administrators, with 28 per cent of Aceh’s schools damaged or destroyed.
Exact figures remain hard to come by and the governmental ministries are still revising their statistics, practically on a daily basis. The sometimes conflicting figures reflect the difficulties in finding and identifying bodies. Furthermore, pre-disaster population data may not have been exact and does not always provide an accurate baseline. On 25 January, Indonesia’s Social Affairs Ministry raised its estimate of dead to 123,198, while the Ministry of Health revised its casualty count with confirmed deaths at 96,000 and a further 132,000 missing and presumed dead. This new death count only includes buried bodies; the missing will only be officially declared dead after one year. Once confirmed, deaths could therefore reach a total of 218,164 - although it is clear that the precise number of fatalities may never be known.
Coordination
The PMI board held a meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss and agree on its rehabilitation and capacity-building programme. This is expected to include a strong capacity-building component with a particular focus on training of volunteer teams in Aceh, North Sumatra and the adjoining area of Riau. The plan is also expected to stress the need to replace much of PMI’s destroyed infrastructure in the affected area, as well as reinforce the national society’s capacity in logistics management, information and finance, in particular. In terms of PMI’s participation in longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction, priority areas for action are likely to include sanitation for IDP camps, relief distribution, the provision of clean water, setting up health posts with a focus on basic health care and psycho-social programme (PSP), as well as reconstruction of schools and housing. The PMI plan remains contingent on the overall government plan and the role that will be allocated to the national society.
Security
The Banda Aceh office’s coordinator circulated a draft policy statement concerning the issue of armed escorts of PMI/Federation relief vehicles and the presence of military personnel in PMI/Federation buildings, in an initiative to clarify unequivocally the stance to be taken by all personnel working in the name of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement).
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
In Asia:
- India, New Delhi: Alan Bradbury; Regional Programme Coordinator; phone: +91.98.1030.1984; email: ifrcin134@ifrc.org or India: Bob McKerrow, Head of Regional Delegation, phone: +91.98.1000.1534; Azmat Ulla, Head of Delegation, phone: +91.98.1039.9650.
- Sri Lanka: Alisdair Gordon-Gibson; Head of Delegation; phone: +94.77.755.7001
- Indonesia: Ole J Hauge, Head of Delegation; phone: +622 1791 91 841; mobile: +628 11 824 859; fax: +622 1 79180 905; email: ifrcid01@ifrc.org and Latifur Rachman, Disaster Management Delegate; phone: +62.811.82.6624; fax: +62.217.18.0905 email: ifrcid05@ifrc.org
- Myanmar: Joanna Maclean, Head of Delegation, phone: +95.1.383686 email: ifrcmm01@redcross.org.mm
- Malaysia: Dr Selva Johti, National Disaster Management Chairman, Malaysian Red Crescent Society; phone: +60.2.6138.2325, mobile: +60.1.2234.0310: fax: +60.3.6138.2325
- Thailand: Lt. Gen. Amnat Barlee, Director of Relief and Community Health Bureau, Thai Red Cross; phone: +66.2.251.7853 ext. 2202/251.7442, fax: +66.2.252.7976; email: abarlee@webmail.redcross.or.th
- Thailand, Bangkok: Dr. Ian Wilderspin, Head of Disaster Risk Management Unit, phone: +662.640.8211; fax: +662.661.8220; email: ifrcth22@ifrc.org and Bekele Geleta, Head of Regional Delegation; mobile: +66 18215495; email: ifrcth23@ifrc.org
In Geneva:
- Iain Logan, Head of Tsunami Operations Coordination, Geneva; +41.22.730.4258, email: iain.logan@ifrc.org
- Indonesia: Charles Evans, Southeast Asia Desk, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4320; fax:+41.22.733.0395; email: charles.evans@ifrc.org
- Sri Lanka: Suzana Harfield, Desk Officer, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4353 ; email: suzana.harfield@ifrc.org
- Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives and Somalia: Wilson Wong, Desk Officer, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4302; email: wilson.wong@ifrc.org
- India: Jagan Chapagain, Desk Officer, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4316; email: jagan.chapagain@ifrc.org
- Media Department, Sian Bowen, phone: + 41.22.730.4428; email: sian.bowen@ifrc.org
- Logistics Department for mobilization of relief items, Erling Brandtzaeg, logistics officer for Indonesia and Myanmar, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4269; email: erling.brandtzaeg@ifrc.org, Misha Chitashvili, logistics officer for Sri Lanka and Maldives, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4305; email: misha.chitashvili@ifrc.org and Isabelle Sechaud, general coordination of tsunami operations logistics cell, Geneva; phone: +41.22.730.4367; email: isabelle.sechaud@ifrc.org
In Africa:
- Nairobi Regional Delegation; Anitta Underlin, Federation Head of Eastern Africa Regional Delegation, Nairobi; email: ifrcke03@ifrc.org; Phone: +254.20.283.51.24; Fax +254.20.271.84.15; Steve Penny, Regional Disaster Management Coordinator; Phone: +254.20.283.5117; Fax: +254.20.271.8415; email: ifrcke78@ifrc.org
- In Geneva: Josse Gillijns, Regional Officer for Eastern Africa, Africa Dept.; email: josse.gillijns@ifrc.org; Phone: +41.22.730.42.24; Fax: +41.22.733.03.95
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in these or other countries, or for a full description of the national society profiles, please access the Federation’s website at http://www.ifrc.org
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