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American Scene

Tsunami produces millions in aid to charities, new ideas to warn of future disasters

Sometimes it takes the worst to bring out the best in people.

From America to Mauritius, from Hong Kong to Hamburg, ordinary citizens, movie stars, private businesses and governments big and small are opening their wallets and their hearts to help victims of countries devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

U.S. charities have raised more than $337 million so far in emergency relief aid, thanks to an unprecedented outpouring of donations. Many of charity groups are reporting that they have pulled in more money in one week than they usually do in a year.

The donations have been both big and small. President Bush offered $10,000 from his personal funds, calling on other Americans to donate what they could. Hollywood movie stars have either raised money in fundraisers, or contributed individually. A nine-year old boy from California asked his mother to forego his birthday party and instead contribute $250 to children in Asia. A six-year old Ohio girl raised $200 selling hot chocolate on the street in her neighborhood. Collection baskets have been passed around in churches and synagogues across the country and many youngsters have turned over their Christmas money to charities. Americans have also sent food and clothing to the stricken areas, and, like other countries, the U.S. government has sent its military to the region to deliver supplies and treat the injured.

Internationally, the response has been equally impressive. It is estimated that governments around the world have together pledged more than $3 billion. Australia is the biggest donor ($810 million), followed by Germany ($674 million), Japan ($500 million and the U.S. ($350 million). Mauritius has donated about $300,000.

Devastation caused by the wave's power was horrific. "I've been in war and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I have never seen anything like this," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said after visiting the stricken region last week. "The power of the wave to destroy bridges, to destroy factories, to destroy homes, to destroy crops, to destroy everything in its path is amazing."

Deaths from the disaster are expected to exceed 150,000. The waves were produced by a massive, 9.0 undersea earthquake - the strongest in 40 years - that struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Dec. 26.

The relief effort isn't without controversy, however.

Before making his private donation, President Bush was criticized for reacting too slowly to the catastrophe while he was on vacation in Texas over the Christmas holiday. He later committed $350 to the relief efforts. To further soften criticism, Mr. Bush asked former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to lead a campaign to raise funds from U.S. companies and individuals.

There's also been criticism that the world has overreacted to this crisis by giving the tsunami unprecedented press coverage, money and global attention. While all would agree that this was a catastrophe of horrific proportions, many other natural disasters of similar magnitude over the years have received much less worldwide aid and focus.

Press coverage in Europe of the tsunami has been enormous, fueled largely by the fact that thousands of Europeans, mostly Scandinavians seeking some holiday sun, perished in the tidal wave. The disaster hit home for them, and they gave generously to relief organizations. But would Europeans have been as concerned had none of their countrymen died?

Don't forget the earthquake in Bam, Iran just a year ago that killed 46,000, injured 20,000 and left 60,000 homeless. Or the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat Indian that killed 20,000 and injured another 167,000. More than 10,000 lives were taken during a hurricane in Central American in 1998, and an earthquake in China in 1976 killed 250,000. These disasters brought in only a fraction of the financial assistance that have been raised for the tsunami victims.

Such inequity aside, the tsunami has helped open the world's eyes to the extreme actions of nature and what can be done to prepare for such events. Projecting changes in storm patterns, better tracking the path and intensity of storms, and predicting patterns of droughts and floods must all be carefully studied. The implications of such climate changes for small island nations like Mauritius could be enormous, especially when it comes to changes in the sea level and extreme weather patterns that bring prolonged droughts.

Writing in the Washington Post, William Hooke, a scientist with the U.S. government, says recent geological studies indicate that the extremes in nature (hurricanes, brutal cold and heat waves, ice storms, cycles of flood and drought) will be substantially greater than in the past.

To protect lives and the ecosystem, Hooke suggests that improvements be made in how natural hazards are monitored and reported, and in how people are warned about them "All nations need to address the challenge of monitoring the entire range of natural hazards in a balanced, globally coordinated way," he said.

"For many events, such as earthquakes and tsunamis, the warning time is too short to rely on the handoff of information between intermediaries. Nations must pay more attention to technical means for disseminating warnings directly to those affected," he said.

Hooke also makes the excellent suggestion - that could be noted in Mauritius - that countries adopt "more prudent land-use policies, especially in coastal regions and other hazardous zones. We must strengthen building codes and their enforcement." He says there is too much development along ocean coasts, which puts people directly in harm's way during storms.

Some progress in achieving a global early-warning system may soon be made.

On Feb. 16, 50 nations will meet in Brussels to approve a final draft of a plan to create an Earth Observing System. This would be a network for monitoring changes in the oceans and atmosphere that could effect life on earth. The idea is to improve weather forecasting, reduce damage from oil spills and coastal storms, improve safety and economy of shipping and airlines, raise productivity of fisheries, and save lives in a tsunami-like disaster.

Experts say a completed system could offer warnings of within 15 minutes of the start of a huge tidal wave, which would allow for evacuation of coastal areas.

In the case of the recent disaster, U.S. government scientists were criticized for failing to send out enough warnings even though they had picked up evidence of a large underwater earthquake that had triggered the waves. According to experts quoted in the U.S. press, the principal reason for the failure was that the only effective tsunami buoys, which measure sudden shifts in ocean level, are located in the North Pacific. There are none in the Indian or Atlantic Oceans. To cover the potential tsunami area, about 40-50 buoys would be needed.

Another reason cited by experts was the lack of qualified people to collect and interpret data and use it in their own countries. When the earthquake off Indonesia was detected, no one knew whom to call. (In fact according to a timeline of the U.S. response to the disaster, the U.S. embassies in Mauritius and Madagascar were notified at 10:15 p.m. the day of the event about a possible wave threat to Madagascar and Africa.)

Developing warning systems for the future is important, but there are pressing challenges requiring immediate attention.

The World Health Organization reported last week that 150,000 people were at "extreme risk" of dying because of water shortages, improper sanitation and insufficient medical care. Children who have been orphaned must be protected from traffickers who snatch up children for the international sex trade or to work in textile sweatshops. And food and medical aid is still not reaching millions of people trapped in isolated areas of the stricken region.

Now it's time to make sure that the $3 billion in global aid pledged for relief and reconstruction is indeed spent for those purposes.

a m e r i c a n   s c e n e

WEEK-END --- dimanche 16 janvier 2005