http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/world/asia/30iht-indo.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Indonesians Waiting Out Another Disaster Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images A pyroclastic flow of ash and rock flowed down the face of Mount Merapi on Friday. By WILL CARLESS and AUBREY BELFORD Published: October 29, 2010 UMBULHARJO EVACUATION CAMP, INDONESIA - Karjono knows the Umbulharjo evacuation camp well. It was here, four years ago, while his family was seeking shelter from Mount Merapi's last spate of eruptions, that his first daughter was born into the chilly mountain air. Related a.. Elements Slow Aid in Indonesia, and New Eruption Raises Fears (October 29, 2010) Mr. Karjono, a hollow-faced 34-year-old farmer from the tiny village of Pangurejo, two kilometers, or a little over a mile, from Merapi's fiery crater, named his daughter Wahyu Lavania - "A Revelation from the Lava." On Thursday night, Lavania huddled against her father and tried to sleep as the evacuation camp hummed around her. The family was among the victims of twin natural disasters that caused havoc in separate parts of the Indonesian archipelago this week. At Merapi, where at least 35 people were killed by eruptions of hot gas and debris this week, sporadic eruptions continued on Friday, forcing nearly 50,000 people to stay in temporary camps while seismologists worked to see whether the mountain was set for further, more damaging activity. At the same time, about 1,200 kilometers to the west, officials said that the death toll had climbed to 408 and that 303 were missing from a powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck the Mentawai Islands on Monday night. An influx of aid, helped by military ships and helicopters, made it to the islands, which lie off the west coast of Sumatra, but rough seas and unpredictable weather meant that many victims were still without assistance four days after the disaster, said Harmensyah, the head of the West Java provincial Disaster Management Agency. "We've been able to get aid out there, but the problem is then channeling it to the affected areas," he said. "The weather's nasty today, so we're relying on helicopters to get help out there." At the Umbulharjo camp, five kilometers from the volcano's edge, the residents of four close-knit villages waited out the emergency, casting a wary eye up the mountain to the homes and fertile fields where they draw their living. Misram, a villager from Pangurejo, said he and his neighbors had been visiting the village each morning to check on their animals and feed them. But Mr. Misram, 50, said many residents were finding their stores of feed and the rest of their possessions covered in a thick sheet of poisonous volcanic dust. "We can't even use the water to clean the food because it is also full of dust, Mr. Misram said. By Thursday evening, the camp had taken on the atmosphere of a somber carnival as evacuees brooded on their future and lost friends, but sought refuge in the laughter of their children and the spirit of camaraderie fostered by their escape. A huge group of children sang along to a cartoon projected on a screen in a courtyard. Men, many of them wearing black felt taqiyahs, or prayer caps, gathered in groups to smoke cigarettes, sip hot, sweet tea and discuss plans to save their animals while women tended to children or tried to sleep, huddled together against the cold night on woven reed mats. In the Umbulharjo camp's shabby office, the village secretary and de facto leader of the camp, Endri, hid his bloodshot eyes behind gray-tinted sunglasses. Surveying a list of the dead, Mr. Endri reflected on the death of Mbah Maridjan, the revered spiritual leader and appointed "guardian" of Mount Merapi, who was found half-buried buried in volcanic ash on Wednesday. "Maybe people will become more realistic about these things now," Mr. Endri said. "Maybe they will trust the government warnings more." Mr. Maridjan, who had lived on the slopes of Merapi for 33 years, was considered a spiritual guide for local villagers. When he refused to leave the mountain despite the evacuation order, some villagers believed that he knew they would be safe and also refused to leave, said villagers now in the evacuation camp. But evacuees interviewed here also played down Mr. Maridjan's significance as a reference point in matters of safety. "No, we listened to the government, not to Maridjan," said Marjo Mirono, a 59-year-old resident of the village of Balong, 3 kilometers from the crater. "I came here one day before the first eruption, and so did many people. They did not wait until the mountain erupted." On the southern slope of Merapi on Friday, villagers took regular breaks from their daily routine and shaded their eyes against the sun to look north for the next appearance of "wedhus gembel" - the woolly haired goat - the name people here have given to the dark-gray eruptions that have been rising into the sky at regular intervals since Monday evening. "God's will - and we must accept it," said Ngatinah, a 42-year-old resident of the village of Ngrangkah, where eight people died in the Monday eruption. "If I moved to the city, I could be hit by a car or a bus tomorrow. If Allah wants to take me, he will take me." Aubrey Belford reported from Jakarta. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! 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