More Destruction
Blob 2/12
It’s Sunday, our Internet Café is closed and we decide to try and find a church that is about 30 minutes drive out of town. We weave our way through the city and get on the main road heading out of town. We’re shortly stopped by police who have the road blocked because a large boat is lying squarely across the road blocking traffic both ways. Crews are working to remove it so we try some back streets but debris and flooding prevents us from getting any further. We decide to pulang (go home), change our clothes and explore more of the tsunami affected areas of the city.
For the trip we pack some special snacks from the States and on the road heading southwest out of town are low-lying areas that are heavily damaged. Survivors and displaced people are living in tent camps set up by relief agencies.
Along the road we come to a vehicle graveyard where damaged vehicles have been towed. Cars and trucks that were swept up in the churning, powerful flow of water are crushed and twisted.
We continue toward a French cement factory that I remember seeing in satellite photos before I left. However, the road is partially blocked by a large coal-filled barge and its probable tug boat that were swept ashore and amazingly set on the beach without damage.
We pass more ruined housing areas and our driver Iskandar points out the house where his Uncle and his wife and three children passed away. Their bodies were never found.
On the way home we stop to check on the internet café tent and the temperature inside is over 100 degrees so we open some vents and unzip the window coverings.
For our church service we watch a DVD of Mike Yearly from North Coast Church teach on humility. How appropriate. How can we be prideful about anything God has blessed us with when these Banda Aceh people’s lives have vanished?
It’s Sunday, our Internet Café is closed and we decide to try and find a church that is about 30 minutes drive out of town. We weave our way through the city and get on the main road heading out of town. We’re shortly stopped by police who have the road blocked because a large boat is lying squarely across the road blocking traffic both ways. Crews are working to remove it so we try some back streets but debris and flooding prevents us from getting any further. We decide to pulang (go home), change our clothes and explore more of the tsunami affected areas of the city.
For the trip we pack some special snacks from the States and on the road heading southwest out of town are low-lying areas that are heavily damaged. Survivors and displaced people are living in tent camps set up by relief agencies.
Along the road we come to a vehicle graveyard where damaged vehicles have been towed. Cars and trucks that were swept up in the churning, powerful flow of water are crushed and twisted.
We continue toward a French cement factory that I remember seeing in satellite photos before I left. However, the road is partially blocked by a large coal-filled barge and its probable tug boat that were swept ashore and amazingly set on the beach without damage.
We pass more ruined housing areas and our driver Iskandar points out the house where his Uncle and his wife and three children passed away. Their bodies were never found.
On the way home we stop to check on the internet café tent and the temperature inside is over 100 degrees so we open some vents and unzip the window coverings.
For our church service we watch a DVD of Mike Yearly from North Coast Church teach on humility. How appropriate. How can we be prideful about anything God has blessed us with when these Banda Aceh people’s lives have vanished?
posted by Dave Ketcham at 12:13 AM
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