Surf Charter Boats (the Mosquito Fleet)aid forgotten islands.
Lagundi mayor wants the world to know the surf break is not damaged.
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 09 January 2005: - - Jan. 8 - Surf charter boat Number 9 reached the Banyaks. As in the low-lying Maldives, across the Indian Ocean at the other edge of Asia's vast tsunami zone, coral reefs shielded the islands from utter devastation. In Sinabang, parents had a few moments to grab their children and run for the hills as earthquake-generated waves crashed ashore on Dec. 26.
The bad news: the visiting crew found hundreds of traumatized survivors cowering in the jungle 10 days after the disaster, too fearful to come back near the sea. "The biggest problem here is tangangugiwa," captain Pili relayed by satellite phone last Wednesday. That translates to "a disturbance of the soul." A lone Banyak islander is known to have died when the waves hit.
At Telukdalem, tides rose, flooded the waterfront under a meter of seawater, then receded harmlessly. Locals said the impact on the west coast of Nias was much worse. The official tally is, 123 people perished in Sirombu—the most heavily damaged town—and several hundred more may be missing. The harbor has been destroyed.
At Lagundi a handful of toppled thatch bungalows, a flooded dive shop and numerous battered boats are all the damage we found. Nobody was killed or seriously injured. The town's mayor, fearful of an economic undertow down the road, is eager to pass along a message to members of the global water tribe. "Tell the world that our surf break hasn't been damaged," the well-tanned bureaucrat says earnestly, as perfect tubes of turquoise water roll onto the sand behind him. A guesthouse owner with bleached hair adds: "Thanks, Bro."
The charter boats had made stops in several more Banyak villages, distributing supplies and offering simple first aid to scores of injured people. The most worrying discovery: malaria. Living outdoors, without mosquito nets or enclosed cook fires to keep the bugs away, 10 villagers they encountered had thus far contracted the disease.
On Simeulue, the island closest to the earthquake's epicenter, villagers contacted by cell phone from Padang have requested tents and kerosene. At least seven boats are shuttling islanders what they need to survive. The vision of a network of ferries shuttling relief aid, medical teams and refugees along Aceh's smashed coast is slowly coming to fruition.
One vessel won't be part of the fleet any longer. Electric Lamb hit a log near Sinabang and has developed "enough of a leak that there was some concern. The debris cracked the bow and punched a hole in the fiberglass skin. The crew anchored in protected water near the village, where the yacht stands "to remind the people that they are not alone."
Read the full article at MSNBC
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Compiled by O'Board
Source K38 / MSNBC
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