01.18.05
SRO PHASE ONE
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES:
DISPATCH FROM MATT GEORGE ABOARD THE MIKUMBA
EN ROUTE TO SIMEULUE ISLAND, ACEH, SUMATRA, INDONESIA
Forty-eight hours out of sight of land since departing from Padang the Mikumba and her fellow convoy ship Asia dropped anchor in Gunung Sitoli Harbor, East Nias. Nothing had prepared us for the chaos that reigned on the dock as our envoy stepped ashore. The main hub of aid materiel delivery from the mainland, Gunung Sitoli had the distinct feeling of a pirate town under martial law. Boats jammed the small piers, jockeying for space as ferries groaned under the human cargo of refugees hoping to find more safety across the channel on the bruised mainland of southern Aceh province.
Met with horrific stories of damage and loss of life in the remote villages of northern Nias, we took action. Threading our way through a hotbed of local politics, it soon became apparent that in addition to the aid actually getting through, a thriving black market system was in place with agents of all sorts attempting to take advantage of the confusion and vying to take control of any and all aid materials. Refusing to turn the Asia’s precious ten tons of materials over immediately proved perilous indeed and as midnight approached, tensions were high. Just when riot and mayhem appeared about to ensue, the Vice Governor, hearing of our presence, arrived with an armed entourage and escorted the Asia’s supplies to a secure dockside warehouse. With the guidance of the Vice Governor’s office, from there we were able to secure two trucks which were readied to leave at dawn overland to Lahewa and other remote villages on the Northwest coast of Nias, in the trusted charge of a graSROots Belgian aid organization on a mission not unlike ours; to circumvent confusion and bureaucracy and deliver the aid to those who needed it most.
During the mayhem, we also covertly offloaded several hundred rescue buckets (each containing enough materiel to aid a single family for a week), two tons of fresh produce and two tons of fresh water off the starboard side to a known and trusted local captain who had family to the north and was sailing under the cover of night to make a direct delivery. Our work done, we secured another volunteer doctor and bid good-bye to the Asia, which was headed for the mainland port of Sibolga with urgently needed helicopter fuel for Kerry Sieh, the CalTech geologist who is measuring the precise movements of land masses by the earthquake.
Under a star-sprayed sky we set sail for the remote northern reaches of Simeulue Island not knowing what to expect.
Dawn brought engine trouble. We put in for repairs at a picturesque but uninhabited Bankaru Bay in the Banyak Islands. It was here that we came face to face with a grim reminder of this terrible tragedy. Here on this idyllic beach we came across the remains of a man curled up in a posture of terror, the surf licking at his heels. It was a sobering, very human moment to all hands. After a few quiet words spoken over him we bid farewell to this lost soul and continued north.
Proceeding on, the sea became more and more choked with debris and more and more floating bodies were seen in various stages of decomposition. Our Australian journalist David Sparkes made it his job to call out a blessing to each body we passed.
At dusk, we just had time to reconnoiter a small fisherman’s camp on a tiny island just north of the Banyaks. An eerie silence fell as a small team walked into the beachside jungle to investigate. Evidence of a huge wave, 20 feet or more, was seen as we picked through the obliterated tumbled-down settlement. Wild pigs rooted through the encampment, but no survivors were found. There was some evidence of a hasty retreat made by former residents, but recon proved impossible. Articles of clothing and personal effects could be seen further ahead in the jungle canopy as high as 25 feet. And as we left in the Dinghy, we could see large carrion birds circling the impenetrable jungle further inland. A chilling sight indeed.
With night falling, we returned to the Mikumba and shared a quiet dinner with all hands perhaps recalling the indelible image of that lost soul we found on the beach earlier, his ravaged skull facing the sea, its features contorted into a silent scream of outrage for eternity.
Dawn, 17JAN05. After an all night race against time, the Mikumba dropped anchor at Tuluk Gosong bay, Southern Simeulue. Needing to check in with the local Aceh government we sent an envoy overland by motorcycle to the capital of Sinabang. We took this time to also deploy one ton of supplies to the people of Tuluk Gosong and allowed our doctors time to treat approximately fifty patients mostly suffering from post Tsunami wounds, subsequent infections, respiratory infections and Diahhrea due to contaminated ground water.
Securing the necessary papers to travel in the waters of Aceh province, we then took onboard a Captain with the Indonesian Army for security against the pirates who were rumored to be plying these waters in search of aid materiel. We then set sail for the waters of Simeulue’s Northern Alafan region, an area scant miles (How many?) from the epicenter of the massive quake, where rumors of a 60-foot wave swept ashore December 26. No word has come from any of the remote villages of this region. As far as we can tell, the Mikumba will be the first relief boat to reach these shores.
ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM SAT PHONE CONVERSATION:
Spirits onboard are high, everyone is well and working together unbelievably. To see Timmy Turner’s mom walking though the surf, helping carry a 100 lb bag of rice…
In addition to the Indo Army officer, we took on another doctor and another ship’s captain knowledgeable in these waters. Ships compliment is now 14 onboard. Very well equipped for anything which might happen.
The Mikumba still has 20 tons of supplies ready to distribute to the north of Simeulue.
Can’t say that Nias is fine, because it’s just…chaos. The black market, the absent NGO’s and the government is stockpiling [goods]…it’s made us pretty angry. This stuff is pouring in and warehouses are filing up and people are controlling it…
Our mission, against these bureaucratic odds is to get the supplies to the people who need it most. And we will not hesitate.
The Katit village head came out and shook our hands and you could see it in their eyes. They were so thankful. When we sail up in our little boat and bring our little dinghy onshore and start unloading onions and potatoes and stuff…they’re stoked.
***JANUARY 18, 2005***
DISPATCH FROM MATT GEORGE ABOARD THE MIKUMBA
SIMEULUE ISLAND, ACEH, WEST SUMATRA, INDONESIA
1900 HRS TUESDAY 18JAN05
2° 49.850′ N 95° 45.554 E
Another all night sail.
Dawn found the Mikumba dropping anchor in Lewabenua Bay, northernmost Simeulue, just 20 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter. In the direct path of this phenomena, evidence of the monster waves that swept through the villages here were seen wherever one looked. Uninhabited offshore islands were swept clean. Palm trees bent and scalped. Looking like giant bleached whale bones.
On shore, 40-foot palms held household items in their fronds like a laundry-line from hell. The main village was completely leveled. The rivermouth reshaped, made much wider, choked with debris and sand. A boat thrown high into the jungle canopy behind, its cabin windows winking reflections in the distance.
We were met on the beach by hundreds of villagers in a desperate state, and it was there we fashioned a crude refugee camp for the over 2000 souls who live around this big azure bay.
Acting quickly under alternating deluge and blistering heat, the SRO team fabricated a large medical tent and another for distribution of aid supplies. With the villagers in a desperate state, we organized the distribution of over 200 rescue buckets, one ton of dried fish, one ton of fruit and vegetables and sundry tools and materials for rebuilding. From the mothership, we also distributed over 3 tons of supplies to a small fleet of wooden canoes that dispersed out to the other six villages surrounding the bay.
Work continued tirelessly until dusk. By day’s end our medical team had treated over 125 injured and sick and set up a quarantine area for the six tuberculosis cases discovered. It was an exhausted, sunburned team that arrived back at the Mikumba to good news. Our sister ship on this mission, the Asia, had successfully resupplied in Sibolga on the Sumatran mainland, procured another cargo boat stocked with additional aid material and was under steam to rejoin us by dusk the next day.
Special tribute should be paid to our doctors who provided tireless hope and care and inspired the warmest moment of the day. As our last dinghy was leaving shore for the Mikumba, the father of an infant who had been treated earlier for third-degree burns over most of his body had his only surviving daughter run to the water’s edge to present our team with her most precious possession. It was the beautiful pink seashell that hung around her neck.
ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM SAT PHONE CONVERSATION:
There are several other villages surrounding Teluk Lewabenua bay in the Alafan region. Tomorrow at dawn the SRO team will visit one of the larger villages at the tip of the bay, which is said to be in much worse shape. There is no overland access and it can only be reached by vessel or on foot. We saw an ant-trail of people streaming off with the supplies, most of them having walked seven of eight miles through the jungle to make it to the site where we put on shore. Another similar day is expected tomorrow.
The last of the produce was given out and it survived the long journey pretty well. About 15 tons of nonperishable supplies remaining.
We are in poorly-charted waters and that is why we must move so slowly. Also is the added danger that the ocean floor has risen up to four meters in places and exposed, drying reef is everywhere you look. here are a lot of hazards, we have a lookout in the crow’s nest and move at a careful pace. Fortunately there is little swell, as we are told if there is swell, moving around here by ship is outrageously dangerous. There is definitely reason to believe that the shifts in the ocean floor may have produced new hazards to navigation.
The plan is to continue around the island in a counterclockwise direction, seeking the limited safe harbors — although the area is very difficult and well known as a graveyard of ships. Resupply issues will also determine the possible future routing.
***JANUARY 19, 2005***
DISPATCH FROM MATT GEORGE ABOARD THE MIKUMBA
SIMEULUE ISLAND, ACEH, SUMATRA, INDONESIA
2° 49.850′ N 95° 45.554 E
Dawn found the Mikumba still plying the waters of Teluk Lewabenua Bay in the northernmost point of Simeulue Island. It was ascertained the here is where the most immediate aid is needed. After identifying two different villages inaccessible by a ship the size of Mikumba, we procured two smaller fishing boats and launched one mission in the morning that lasted until late in the afternoon. We made landfall at a village of 200 people, all of whom were waiting on the beach for us waving their hands and thanking us before we even landed.
We quickly set up a medical tent which treated at least 152 people for Stage Two disaster medical conditions including infections and respiratory diseases (children and women most affected). We also disbursed over 200 rescue buckets, and tons of fish, food, cooking gear and spices. While the doctors worked their way through the sick and injured, some of the rest of us set up a volleyball court for the villagers and even gave some surf lessons in the shorebreak.
It was the first time since we’ve been here where the people seem to have recovered just enough to actually resume a certain semblance of happiness since the trauma of the disaster.
We then waved goodbye and set sail back to the Mikumba in the small boats, having heard of another village with problems just at dusk. Seeing the smoke from their cooking fires we proceeded in the Indo boats, made landfall and found yet another devastated community.
We wanted to get off the island before dusk because of the very high malaria risk here but we all had a meeting and we all decided to set up a clinic and stay into the night. Every crew member must be commended; we all sat down on the beach to talk about it we all decided — “we’re staying.”
We aided the doctors and gave out more buckets, more relief supplies and have just now found our way back to the Mikumba by hurricane lamp light. We now prepare for tomorrow and await the arrival of our sister ship, the Asia, which is steaming north to join us here in this bay.
We are going to continue our work, although we are beginning to run low on supplies. We have enough for perhaps two more villages, when it comes to food, water, tools, shelter and sundry supplies. The medical team, however, is still fairly well stocked so we will stay in these waters until the last watermelon and the last shovel have been given out. We will stay until the last syringe has been used and the last suture stitched.
We will not sail before then, and that is something we have all agreed on.
ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM SAT PHONE CONVERSATION:
It’s pretty amazing how this group has come together as a unit…this crew is unbelievable. They have it wired. We hit the beachlike a MASH unit and have a medical clinic with an intake, pharmacy and outpatient up and running in 15 minutes time. Adam and Timmy and Dustin and Kristian are on the beach and in 15 minutes we are giving each family a pound of fish, tins of sardines, a rescue bucket.
Brian “Willy” Williams as the local guide/navigator has been irreplaceable in getting the vessel through these waters and up close to where we need to be. Achieving this mission to Simeulue would have been absolutely impossible without him.
***JANUARY 20, 2005***
DISPATCH FROM MATT GEORGE ABOARD THE MIKUMBA
SIMEULUE ISLAND, ACEH, SUMATRA, INDONESIA
2° 49.850′ N 95° 45.554 E
We began early by visiting yet another village located on the banks of a river deep within Lewabenua Bay on the remote northern coast of Simeulue Island. Many villages throughout this region are positioned in the jungle next to the fresh water resources flowing from the hills, and while they are quite near the coast they are often not actually visible from ships offshore.
This has led to many severely-damaged villages being overlooked in early inspections all over the region. These watersheds are only scarcely above sea level and the tsunami’s hydraulic forces had no difficulty surging kilometers inland up rivers and streams wreaking havoc along the way.
And just like in all the villages visited to date we saw more people whose possessions had all been swept away, leaving them without means to obtain food, or cook it if they did. A population stricken with all manner of post-disaster medical afflictions. We do all we can.
Today we were rejoined by the Asia, which we had not seen since parting ways in Gunung Sitoli. After dropping helicopter fuel in Sibolga for Caltech geologist Kerry Sieh, operator Chris Scurrah boldly decided to resupply there and — with funding from Surf Aid — loaded up with 50 tons of staple supplies like water, rice and potatoes and made way for this corner of the world. This arrival was rather timely as our original cargo is nearly depleted.
Today also saw the first local response in the form of a TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) gunboat and another vessel carrying the equivalent of a Civil Defense group. We greeted them and were relieved that there were no political or bureaucratic hurdles — they seemed truly stoked we had been the first responders to the region. It was smiles and handshakes all around.
Later in the day the Mikumba ventured outside of the bay to the west and dropped anchor off a small village. It was here that we came face to face with an unbelievable sight — the land was clearly raised a good six feet by the earthquake. The beach upon which the village has built an eon ago is now far inland, with a vast stretch of dry coral reef now separating it from the ocean water.
On Christmas Day, it would have been quite simple to land a small boat upon the sandy shore. Now, the formerly routine act of moving from land to sea is fraught with peril and one must wonder how this fishing village can possibly remain viable.
For the many surfers who have been wondering if the big geologic event might have affected the shape of breaking waves in this region, you now have your answer.
Using local canoes, we made it to shore and went to work once distributing supplies and administering medical aid. By the end of the day, we knew that the first phase of this operation was nearing its end. The last bit of what was originally 37 tons of food, water, shelter and other survival materials was given out this afternoon.
After consulting with Chris on the Asia, a plan was agreed upon to jointly complete a full circumnavigation of the island and try to improve the intelligence available about some of the more remote spots of Simeulue.
The Mikumba will head north to the top of the island and move clockwise around toward Sinabong. Meanwhile, the Asia will head out the west and then continue around in the island counter-clockwise past the wild west coast where there are believed to be quite a few areas where outside aid has still not reached. We will then all rendezvous in Sinabong in 36 hours and compare notes to develop the ongoing plan of action.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The spirit of the SRO team remains high, and the will to keep going is strong.
As of now we are sailing north and a storm can be seen brewing in our path. This is not the first rough patch we have encountered, nor will it be our last. We will weather this storm as well.
For additional details on the amazing efforts of the Asia and Chris Scurrah and Christina Fowler, see http://www.sumatransurfariis.com/
It includes some additional details via Kerry Sieh:
“Scurrah had an opportunity to speak to Professor Kerry, and he shared more of his findings. His research shows that the island of Simeulue rose 2-3 feet in the northern part of the island, and dropped maybe 1 foot in the south. In Nias, he calculated that the tsunami wave that hit Sirombu was 6 meters high. In Simeulue (which is north of Nias), the wave as estimated at approximately 6.2 meters high. Most villagers in Simeulue reported that the biggest wave hit around 9am –10am; while reports are that an odd wave hit Nias around 3-4 pm. Kerry thinks this is because the wave reflected off Sri Lanka, and bounced back onto the islands. This is only theory at this point, but if accurate it’s just an amazing example of the power of this quake and subsequent tsunami.”