Flood relief continues in Indonesia
POSTED: February 15, 2007
By Sarah Pate
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OBI medical and relief teams load into rubber dinghies to bring relief to victims.
"I have lost everything," said Jayani, pictured here in front of his home.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia - Across Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, Operation Blessing relief teams continue to fight off mosquitoes and sickness brought on by severe flooding earlier this month.
After floodwaters submerged nearly half of Jakarta in early February, killing at least 44 and displacing more than 340,000, relief teams immedicately loaded into rubber dinghies and began rescue operations to help hundreds who were stranded and transport them safefly to higher ground.
"The water rose so fast," said Zainal, 26. "People can only think about saving their life and leaving everything else behind."
Travelling by boat, truck and van, teams reached out to 41 affected areas, distributing more than 7,000 emergency food packages, 75,000 pounds of rice, providing medical treatment to nearly 14,000 victims and conducting mosquito fogging in six different locations.
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Thousands fled their flooded homes and retreated to refugee sites throughout the city.
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In addition to treating victims for flood-related illnesses such as diarrhea, viral infections, skin diseases and respiratory problems, OBI's mosquito fogging efforts are equally important in helping to prevent malaria, dengue fever and other diseases which health officials say the flood conditions have the potential to spread.
Both mosquito fogging and medical missions will continue through the end of February.
How You Can Help
You can take part in helping bring relief in real time to victims of disaster by making an online donation toward Operation Blessing's Indonesia Flood Relief fund.
With your support, OBI can continue to bring emergency food, water, and medical care to these flood victims and more who are caught in the midst of disaster.
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