Survivors rush copters as supplies finally arrive

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Driven to desperation by hunger, grief and the growing threat of disease, flood survivors swarmed around U.S. military helicopters yesterday as substantial international aid finally began to reach remote regions devastated by last Sunday's tsunamis.

Jostling crowds swarmed to helicopters from the USS Abraham Lincoln, an Everett-based aircraft carrier, as soon as they touched down in Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra in Indonesia.

Indonesia is the nation hardest hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the resulting waves that have killed at least 123,000 people.

"They came from all directions, crawling under the craft, knocking on the pilot's door, pushing to get into the cabin," said Petty Officer 1st Class Brennan Zwack. "But when they saw we had no more food inside, they backed away, saying 'Thank you, thank you.' "

"The mob decided how we distributed the food. There were so many hands outstretched I don't think any package touched the ground," added Zwack, of Sioux Falls, S.D.

Capt. Larry Burt of Lamore, Calif., said, "We are basically here to do whatever is needed." He commanded the Navy's first group to arrive at Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport in Banda Aceh.

Navy deliveries of 25,000 pounds of food, water and medicine, carried out by a dozen specially fitted SH-60 Bravo helicopters from the Lincoln, were particularly welcome along the shore south of Banda Aceh, where the wall of water destroyed a series of bridges and left the main road impossible to navigate.

DIBYANGSHU SARKAR / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Indian tsunami victims wait for supplies at a relief camp in a fishing village near Cuddalore, India, yesterday. A mass inoculation drive and adequate clean drinking water have prevented the outbreak of an epidemic in the district of India worst-hit by killer tsunamis.

"There is nothing left to speak of at these coastal communities," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Vorce, a pilot from San Diego. He told of a swath of destruction two miles in from the coasts, with trees flattened, roads washed away and only foundations where buildings once stood.

The dull-gray Navy helicopters, usually deployed to hunt submarines, flew in from the Lincoln carrier group steaming only three miles off Sumatra in the now-tranquil Indian Ocean.

Besides airdrops by the U.S. helicopters to refugees, fleets of cargo planes from Australia, New Zealand and other nations landed in Indonesia, ferrying in tons of supplies.

In Medan, on the other side of Sumatra island, two U.S. Air Force Hercules C-130 cargo airplanes were parked on the runway, the only two such American fixed-wing aircraft operating in Indonesia.

Inside a hangar perhaps 200 yards away, bags of rice, boxes of instant noodles and cases of bottled water were piled halfway to the rafters, waiting to be loaded onto planes en route to the worst-hit areas on the west side of the island.

But the U.S. crews stood listlessly in the tropical night, frustrated by forces beyond their control. They waited for scarce loading pallets. They waited for the lone forklift used to load and unload a half-dozen relief planes from several countries. Then they waited for a crew of Indonesian soldiers to help load the supplies the only way available — by hand, box by box.

"It's still not as organized as I think it should be," said Sgt. Henry Williams, an aircraft-maintenance technician on one of the two Hercules planes.

A thousand miles away, on the other side of the Indian Ocean, a convoy led by the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault vessel, was on its way to Sri Lanka loaded with 1,500 U.S. Marines and about 20 helicopters. U.S. officials said the relief effort there would include parts of Sri Lanka that are under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an insurgency the State Department has listed as a foreign terrorist organization.

U.S. military officials said that yet another convoy, six slower-moving ships loaded with food, water, blankets and a 500-bed portable hospital, was en route from Guam but was not expected to reach the stricken region for about two weeks. Two Japanese ships also were en route to the Indian Ocean.

It was the beginning of what was expected to become a steady stream of international aid for Indonesia, Sri Lanka and 10 other countries on the rim of the Indian Ocean. The United Nations said the death toll was expected to reach 150,000, the number of seriously injured was believed to exceed 500,000, and the likelihood of epidemics of cholera and other diseases was growing daily among survivors left without homes, clean water and adequate medical treatment.

Ira Lippke of Long Beach, Calif., a hospital volunteer in Indonesia, where at least 80,000 are confirmed dead, said infections are already taking a toll.

"We've seen several people die of cuts that became infected. They had gangrene, dirt and pus in their wounds. It's so incredibly tragic," he said.

Relief workers face a mind-numbing task, complicated by bureaucratic tangles, inadequate or damaged transportation networks, bad weather and political instability.

In Sri Lanka, torrential rains of up to 10 inches triggered flooding yesterday in the eastern part of the island nation, blocking relief supplies for tens of thousands of refugees. Some makeshift refugee camps had to be evacuated.

"This is a very complex operation. If it is not managed properly, we can actually slow down the relief effort," Andrew Natsios, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said on the CBS "Early Show."

As the first trickle of supplies broke through, the global relief effort to save an estimated 5 million homeless survivors was reinforced when Japan increased its pledge of aid from $30 million to $500 million, the largest contribution thus far. Combined with a $350 million pledge by the United States on Friday, this brought total contributions from more than 40 nations to above $2 billion, according to the United Nations.

"It's the biggest outpouring of relief in such a short period of time," said Jan Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary general in charge of emergency relief. "International compassion has never been like this."

President Bush ordered U.S. flags lowered to half-staff from tomorrow until Friday as a sign of respect for the victims.

"The carnage is of a scale that defies comprehension," Bush said in a somber New Year's Day radio address. "As the people of this devastated region struggle to recover, we offer our love and compassion, and our assurance that America will be there to help."

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday he will visit tsunami-devastated Indonesia to work with regional leaders to help coordinate aid and relief efforts on the ground.

Annan said he will attend a regional meeting there Thursday, but it wasn't clear how long he would stay.

Annan estimated it may take the region five to 10 years and billions of dollars to recover.

"This is the largest disaster we have had to deal with," he said. "People need shelter. They need food. They need health, sanitation, clean water.... And then, of course, there's the whole reconstruction not only of houses, but of the infrastructure and schools and all that that has been destroyed. So the international community is going to have to support some of these countries."

Material from The New York Times, The Associated Press and The Washington Post is included in this report.