Search

Results

An anything-but-peaceful week in the Pacific

04 Oct 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Pharisees tested Jesus with their question on divorce, we hear in this Sunday's gospel. The people and disaster resources of nations across the Pacific are being tested this week by a spate of powerful natural disasters. The Philippines suffered the worst flooding to hit the country in more than 40 years after tropical storm Ketsana swept through earlier in the week. Overwhelmed officials have called for international help in the storm's aftermath and fear that another powerful storm could hit as early as Friday. Ketsana grew to typhoon-force as it gathered strength across the South China Sea before blowing down wooden villages in Cambodia and crushing Vietnamese houses under mudslides. "We're used to storms that sweep away one or two houses. But I've never seen a storm this strong," said Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province. The storm has claimed at least 331 lives across the region. The Vietnamese government said the tempest destroyed or damaged nearly 180,000 homes, inundated 150,000 more, and flattened crops across central Vietnam. More than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path, posing a logistical headache to shelter and feed them. "The scale of the devastation is stretching all of us," said Minnie Portales, a World Vision aid agency official in the Philippines. Meanwhile, disaster officials rushed food, medicine, and a temporary morgue to the Samoas on Wednesday after a powerful earthquake unleashed a tsunami that leveled villages and swept cars and people out to sea. At least 119 people were killed, and the death toll is expected to rise. Many towns and tourist resorts along the southern coast of Samoa's main Upolu Island were "destroyed," according to witnesses. In addition, a powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia Wednesday, trapping thousands under collapsed buildings--including two hospitals--and triggering landslides. At least 75 people were killed on the island of Sumatra, and the number of dead is predicted to climb sharply. Source: Articles by Rohan Sullivan, Teresa Cerojano, and Tran Van Minh for Associated Press

pacific indonesia upolu island tsunami samoas world vision minnie portales nam tum vietnam cambodia ketsana philippines disasters earthquake flooding sumatra
Chile’s recovery on shaky ground

07 Mar 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul sounds the alert in this Sunday's reading from 1 Corinthians that "whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall." Some 2 million Chileans had a firsthand, harrowing experience illustrating that point on Saturday when one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of central Chile. Some 800 people were confirmed dead and that number is expected to rise. At midweek rescue crews with dogs were searching the rubble of ravaged cities and villages for survivors. With tensions still running high in areas devastated by the quake and the ensuing tsunami, President Michelle Bachelet urged Chileans to support the relief and reconstruction efforts. She also sought to ease concerns of potential food and fuel shortages in the disaster area. "There is no shortage, there is enough food and therefore we must remain calm," she said. "There is also enough fuel, there is no risk of shortages." An 18-hour nightly curfew was in place in Concepción, Chile's second-biggest city, where many residents are now homeless and 14,000 troops patrolled the streets to stop looting, keep order, and oversee aid distribution. Chilean emergency officials and the military blamed each other for not clearly warning coastal villages of tsunamis, angering survivors who lost relatives and friends in the massive waves that followed the quake. "We had no idea, we only found out what was going on because some people saw the ocean swelling and we took off for the hills," said Isaac Lagos, a father of three in Coliumo, a small fishing village just north of Concepción. Forty retirees fleeing a seaside campground in a bus after the quake were among those swept away by the surge. Bachelet, whose approval rating hit a lofty 83 percent in February, has faced mounting criticism for failing to grasp the scale of the tragedy in the initial hours following the quake. She admitted that rescue efforts have been slow, in part because of mangled roads, downed bridges, and power outages. But observers said officials also misjudged the extent of the damage and initially declined offers of international aid. Source: Articles by Mario Naranjo and Terry Wade for Reuters, BBC News, the Associated Press, and CBS News

earthquake tsunami chile michelle bachelet concepción coliumo
Indonesian volcano claims life of its “spiritual guardian"

31 Oct 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Book of Wisdom praises the diversity of God’s creation and promises that all created things, being of God, will be spared. Indonesia was not spared this week from a string of natural disasters that included an earthquake, tsunami, and volcanic eruption. Also not spared was the “spiritual guardian” of the mountain that erupted, who was buried by the mountain’s thick ash while at prayer. Mount Merapi, on the outskirts of the city of Yogyakarta on Java island, first erupted on Tuesday, a day after a tsunami pounded remote islands in western Indonesia. The death toll in the tsunami was near 300, said West Sumatra provincial disaster official Ade Edward. The tsunami, triggered by a 7.5 magnitude quake that struck west of South Pagai, one of the Mentawai islands, flattened several villages and a surf resort. At least 411 people are still missing, Edward said. Indonesians posted tributes via Facebook and Twitter to the volcano’s widely-loved custodian, 83-year old Mbah (grandfather) Maridjan, regarded as a protector who used a combination of Islamic and animist rituals in an effort to keep Mount Merapi under control. The mountain is seen as sacred in the region, the home of ancient Javanese spirits. “Every day will I bless you,” the psalmist promises the Lord this Sunday. For years Maridjan had led ceremonies at the volcano, dispersing rice or flowers in or around the crater in an effort to appease the spirits. Even after an eruption alert was issued and most villagers on the slopes of Mount Merapi had been evacuated, Maridjan stayed put. “I’m so used to being at home, it’s better for me to just stay here and pray,” he said. He was reportedly found dead in a prayer position in his house as rescuers also dug out more than two dozen more victims in the area. Source: Articles by Sunanda Creagh and Olivia Lang for BBC News

earthquake tsunami indonesia volcanoes maridjan yogyakarta mount merapi eruptions
Crisis deepens for shaken Japan

20 Mar 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield,” says the psalmist this Sunday. Millions of desperate Japanese still await assistance in the wake of a powerful earthquake and tsunami that rocked the island nation last Friday. Damaged nuclear reactors have complicated the already grave state of affairs. Much of the tsunami’s havoc was wrought in rural and even inaccessible areas, and much of that has barely been touched. “About 20 percent of the damaged area here has been searched,” Ken-Ichi Sato, who heads emergency operations in a hard-hit region, said Wednesday. “Parts we can’t reach because we can’t get into the area, and parts haven’t been searched because there’s so much debris to clear away.” Japan’s National Police Agency placed the disaster’s toll late Wednesday at more than 4,300 dead and more than 8,000 missing, figures that are likely to rise sharply as more complete reports are compiled. Meanwhile, the closure of highways and lack of goods have slowed government efforts to deliver supplies. Entire swaths of northern Japan remain without electricity, water, or cell phone service. Officials now worry that freezing weather could create a humanitarian crisis for survivors, many of whom have been left without homes. Even those whose homes were spared have found themselves living in a state of privation that this modern and wealthy nation has not known since World War II. At the same time, Japan’s nuclear crisis intensified on Wednesday after authorities announced that a second reactor unit at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan may have ruptured and appeared to be releasing radioactive steam. There are concerns about other reactor units at the site as well after a series of explosions and other problems in the earthquake’s wake that have resulted in the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. International alarm about the nuclear crisis is growing, as several nations urged their citizens in Japan to head to safer areas in the south or leave the country. The chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday gave a bleak appraisal of the threat posed by the nuclear crisis, saying that the damage at one crippled reactor was much more serious than Japanese officials had acknowledged and advising Americans to evacuate a wider area around the plant than ordered by the Japanese government. Sources: Articles by Hiroko Tabuchi, Keith Bradsher, Michael Wines, David E. Sanger, Matthew L. Wald, and Martin Fackler for the New York Times and Mark Magnier, Barbara Demick, and Laura King for the Los Angeles Times

nuclear power earthquake tsunami japan radiation fukushima daiichi