"INDONESIA HAS BEEN FLATTENED" JOKES TO THE LEFT DD:

[whynot]

You've probably heard about this already. But. I guess you can stand to hear about it again.

HEY. HEY SOUTHEAST ASIA. CAN YOU LIKE. CALM YOUR SHIT DOWN. RING OF FIRE, CAN YOU TAKE A CHILL PILL, THAT'D BE GREAT. JFC.

1) VOLCANO, specifically Java's Mt. Merapi has claimed at least 33 lives, 17 injured, but WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
2) EARTHQUAKE roundabouts the Mentawai Islands, which caused a
2A) TSUNAMI. At least 311 people dead, 400 still missing. 20 villages leveled and approx 20,000 people displaced, because nature loves to kick Sumatra in the teeth.

This all happened in under 24 hours. I BELIEVE THE CORRECT PHRASE IS "WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK." I called my parents asking if our peeps in Yogyakarta (by Merapi) are okay - they're okay! - so yaaay. Also I guess Jakarta flooded the other day? As did West Papua. EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND, INDONESIA, YOU ALWAYS BE BLOWIN UP IN MY FACE.

PHILIPPINES, YOU ARE NOT OFF THE HOOK EITHER. I SEE YOU WITH YOUR SUPERTYPHOON OF 110 MPH WINDS. There were much fewer casualties with the supertyphoon because for the most part, people were on top of their shit with the warning systems, early detection, and evacuations. Food security's gonna go down the shitter a bit because the northern Philippines is the country's rice basket (the stairway to heaven in Banaue, natch), and that's the general area where Juan/Megi stormed through. The Merapi evacuations, eh, could've been better.

BUT LOOK AT YOUR LIFE, INDONESIA'S TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM! LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES!:

Indonesia's [tsunami early warning system], completed in 2008 with German aid, has since fallen into such disrepair that it effectively stopped working about a month ago, according to the head of the Meteorology and Geophysic Agency.

The system, which uses buoys to electronically detect sudden changes in water level, worked when it was completed, but by 2009 routine tests of it were showing problems, said the agency chief, who uses the single name Fauzi. By last month, he said, the entire system was broken because of inexperienced operators.

"We do not have the expertise to monitor the buoys to function as intended," he said.

As a result, he said, not a single siren sounded after Monday's quake. [source]

SO THAT HAPPENED. OR DIDN'T.

Surfaid International will take your donations to tsunami relief in Australian dollars. You can also call 1-800-257-957.

Do you guys know of other ways to help out? Other sites to donate to? Surfaid International is the only website I've found that has a specific focus on the Indonesian double whammy. Other websites just have like general donations to the organization. Like, there are some of those here, I guess...

ETA: mercredigirl posts links to some relief efforts we can donate to.

[originally posted at http://whynot.dreamwidth.org/39340.html | comments]

Comments

[dayadhvam-triad.livejournal.com]

wtf at the not-working tsunami sirens >( >( >(

I heard about this from one of my f-listers who lives in Indonesia. She and her family are safe, but--dear god. It's just awful. :(

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

So typical, so typical. It's always the long-term planning and maintenance gonna screw you over.

What do you think of a help_indonesia? I wish there were more charities and relief efforts that people can clearly donate to though.

[dayadhvam-triad.livejournal.com]

Hmm, tbh I'm not sure. A lot of the help_[] comms worked best spontaneously from widespread knowledge of disasters--but so far I feel like there's been so much less publicity about this than I would've thought that having a help_indonesia wouldn't bring in as much charity as it did for, say, help_haiti. I don't remember it posted at ontd_political, which is my usual source of news--I wouldn't have known at all if it weren't for the posts by you & my other f-lister. I think it might be better just to try and determine which charities/relief efforts are best suited, and maybe contact the LJ/DW staff to see if they might put that into their next lj_news/dw_maintenance post. (Idk how many people read those? I always do, but I dunno if that would be a problem based on how many people pay attention to those posts.)