Mount Merapi had its most violent eruption in a week today—-debris and searing, hot clouds of gas were thrown thousands of feet into the sky. There are no reports of new injuries or deaths available at this time.
Mount Merapi is appropriately named—it means Fire Mountain, and it's just one of 22 increasingly active volcanoes being monitored by officials right now.
Indonesia's government emergency response network has been severely challenged this past 7 days. Their military has been called in to help the victims of the tsunami as well as the victim's of the Mount Merapi volcano.
Rescuers found 135 tsunami victims alive over the weekend and were searching for more, amid torrential rains, mud and other hampering elements. A break in the weather now will enable them to continue. Mt. Merpai showed signs of calming down, and thousands of citizens made their way back up the mountain—against government advice—to feed their livestock. Blockades were in place, yet couldn't stop those wanting to salvage something of their lives.
Camouflaged soldiers were seen carrying away screaming and crying villagers that refused to be evacuated to refugee camps.
There are up to 69,000 displaced people now, many in temporary camps. All wanting to go home, most unable to comprehend the enormous losses incurred. Those that managed to run back up the mountain were soon fleeing again as the volcano erupted with all nature's fury.
Some of those camps have as few as five toilets per 1,000 residents, aid workers say. Meanwhile, government soldiers are scrambling to prevent farmers from going back home to check on their crops and livestock—a task that will likely become harder as time passes and residents' anxiety over the state of their property grows. The worries at Merapi come as aid workers are struggling to deliver aid to the Mentawai islands, a remote chain off the coast of Indonesian Sumatra that was hit hard by a tsunami last Monday. The deadly wave triggered by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed 450 people; the ranks of those still missing total less than 100. Many families remain homeless or lack adequate medical care.
Mount Merapi incinerated more than a dozen villages in 1930. More than 1,300 people perished. A 1994 eruption killed 60, and the death toll from this week is estimated at 39—so far.
No one can predict how long Mount Merapi will be active—it could be days, weeks, months. And no one knows when the next earthquake will strike, and whether or not it will generate another life threatening tsunami.
Your heart has to go out to the people living this nightmare. God Bless those that heed the call to rescue and nourish those wounded souls of such natural disasters.
Or are they natural? What do you think of all the earthquake and volcanic activity lately? Man-made (HAARP), climate change, a very angry Mother Nature? Biblical?
I do know these disasters can't be blamed on George W. Bush, but some fool will try.
__________________________________________________________________
Easily grow your own vegetables anywhere .
_______________________________________________________________________
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment