A Penny For Your Thoughts

2005 began with a grim reminder that, despite the effort humankind has made on our planet, nature is still in charge. The enormity of the damage inflicted on portions of South Asia by the December 26 tsunami is almost too much to comprehend. Relief agencies used to disasters involving a few hundred or a few thousand deaths are simply not equipped to address the devastation wreaked across the Indian Ocean, where the death toll is mounting to more than 150,000 as entire communities were swept away.

It is perplexing to read criticisms that distribution systems are not working, or that the response effort is slow, implying that relief agencies and governmental organizations are not working hard enough. The tsunami was not just some high water that crashed on the beach and damaged homes and shops. It effectively destroyed every facet of society – homes, shops, roads, electricity, water systems, communications – all of the familiar and usually dependable trappings of everyday life. Hundreds, even thousands, of miles of heavily populated coastal areas were destroyed. If distribution systems are not working, it’s probably because there are no systems left; they all have to be rebuilt and resupplied. Perhaps we should focus at how quickly both civilian and military groups have been able to ascertain what is needed, where to obtain it, and how to dispense it. Relief and rescue folks are working overtime to address the needs, and the proper response should be gratitude, not criticism.

As in many natural disasters around the world, the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team, an elite division of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, has been asked to assist in the relief efforts. A six-person Rapid Needs Assessment team was deployed over the weekend and arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday to begin a series of briefings and development of action plans. Members of the team are coordinating with the United Nations, the lead agency in the disaster response.

A larger USAR team, up to 72 members, usually is deployed to natural or manmade disasters, such as earthquakes in Iran and Turkey, the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, and the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. The team’s training expertise is search and rescue in collapsed concrete and steel buildings, but the team also has expertise in determining what is needed, and how to get it there, after the disaster. The Rapid Needs Assessment team will move north from Jakarta to provide reports regarding shelter, water and sanitation, foodstuffs, and public health needs in and around Banda Aceh, Indonesia, one of the hardest hit areas. They are expected to remain for up to two weeks.

You can help the relief effort by making cash donations to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, D. C. 20013; the Salvation Army South Asia Relief Fund, 615 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA 22313 (on-line at www.salvationarmyusa.org.), or CARE at www.care.org. Supervisor Penny Gross may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov

Supervisor Penny Gross may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov