Editor's Note: At least 608 people were killed in Indonesia following two devastating earthquakes more than a week ago. Hundreds are still missing and authorities fear the death toll will climb as more bodies are found in the rubble.

Students inspect their damaged classroom, with tables broken and shards littering the ground.

Allison Zelkowitz
Program Manager, Save the Children in Indonesia

October 11, 2009, 11:26 pm

Our distribution teams had a packed day – with just 14 people, we managed to provide nearly 1,500 families with hygiene kits and household items such as a small gas stove, cooking pots and utensils, mosquito nets and blankets. Before I arrived in Padang eight days ago, I never knew how much planning, organizing and effort goes into providing needed supplies, or “NFIs,” as they’re called in humanitarian aid lingo. NFIs stands for non-food items (which I’ve always thought a rather vague term).

Besides selecting, procuring, storing, shipping and transporting NFIs, distributing them requires an intensive process. First, Save the Children staff members meet with community leaders, assess the damage in each community, determine each community’s need and help community leaders develop a list of recipients — the people who most need them.

The actual distribution of NFIs usually begins the next day, and that’s when it can get tricky. The goal is to make sure the right goods get to the right families, while maintaining a secure environment for those who are receiving items as well as for those who are distributing them. Crowds are sometimes unpredictable.

Keep reading

Editor's Note: At least 608 people were killed in Indonesia following two devastating earthquakes last week. Hundreds are still missing and authorities fear the death toll will climb as more bodies are found in the rubble.

Most of the homes in Singai Pingai were damaged or destroyed the the earthquake. Families now are bust salvaging what they can from the rubble.

Allison Zelkowitz
Program Manager, Save the Children in Indonesia

Blog entry, October 8, 2009, 1:30 am

Four more Save the Children staff arrived at our field office this afternoon in Pariaman district. I’m so glad they’re here! We’re now 16 people strong, allowing us to send more distribution teams to villages in need of help. Today one team focused on assessing new villages, and another team continued to distribute shelter materials, hygiene kits and household supplies – we’ve reached over 11,000 people, including about 6,600 children, in the last four days.

My team has traveled back toward Lake Maninjau, near some of the worst destruction, in search of a house and a warehouse to rent, so we can establish a new field office and reach children and families more quickly.

Nearly every road in this area is lined with people asking for donations. The worst part about this is that many of them are children. Not only are they at risk of getting hit by passing cars and motorbikes, but they’re also learning that asking for handouts is normal and necessary. And yet, what options do poor families and communities have? With their houses in ruins, and livelihoods lost, how else are they supposed to cope? Some people are picking up the pieces – they’re clearing away the rubble, arranging all their belongings under carefully hung tarps, and building tent communities with neighbors. But others seem to be just . . . waiting. Today I saw an old man sitting on a bench, staring at the road, surrounded by nothing but the debris of his small home. How long will he be able to wait?

Keep reading

Editor's Note: At least 608 people were killed in Indonesia following two devastating earthquakes last week. Hundreds are still missing and authorities fear the death toll will climb as more bodies are found in the rubble.

Most of the homes in Singai Pingai were damaged or destroyed the the earthquake. Families now are bust salvaging what they can from the rubble.

Allison Zelkowitz
Program Manager, Save the Children in Indonesia

Blog entry, October 7, 2009, 1:40 am

This morning I led a five-person team of Save the Children staff and volunteers to assess an area near Lake Maninjau, in northern Pariaman district. At first, near the main road, the damage didn’t seem that serious. But once we started heading toward the interior, up into the hills, we were alarmed by what we saw: skeletons of houses, splits in the road and metal roofs lying flat on the ground, surrounded by bricks and rubble. Most of the homes that were still standing had suffered irreparable damage, with huge cracks crisscrossing the walls.

Still many were occupied. People seem to have salvaged what belongings they could and moved them to areas that still provided some shelter. We passed two men sitting at a table in what must have been the dining room – now that the exterior wall had collapsed, it looked more like a patio. A number of homes were propped up by wooden posts, providing some support to the weakened structure. If another earthquake occurs, I fear they will do little good.

During this morning’s journey, our car was passed by a funeral procession. Six men carried a draped body; they were followed by at least 100 people. The crowd was winding its way slowly up the road toward us, so we stopped the car and waited until they passed. As we watched the group walk by, I was struck by how immaculately dressed they all were. Some probably borrowed clothing from friends or relatives. But many must have unearthed theirs from the debris, then washed and (somehow) pressed them. I find that rather noble.

Keep reading

Editor's Note: With little hope of finding additional survivors, authorities Monday began clearing the rubble left by a pair of devastating earthquakes that rocked Indonesia last week. The death toll from the two powerful earthquakes that struck the country has risen to 608 and 343 people are still missing, though the total number could be much higher.

Allison Zelkowitz
Program Manager, Save the Children in Indonesia

Blog entry, October 5, 2009, 11:40 pm

It’s hard to believe I’ve only been here four days – it feels like weeks! Our team is working very long hours, both here in the field and in our coordination centers. I don’t think twice about calling or texting my team members at midnight, because I know they’ll be up for at least two more hours.

The urgency of this situation keeps us going. Hundreds of thousands of people – including children – are still trying to meet their basic needs. Today I spoke to a number of women who are gathering rain water in order to bathe and wash their clothes.

Save the Children is continuing to provide shelter materials, and I saw people rigging the tarps as soon as they left the distribution post. In nearly every village, community members take turns standing by the main road, flagging down passing cars and gathering donations. Most use these funds immediately to buy food to cook communal meals.

We've reached an estimated 4,600 people in the last two days, including more than 2,700 children, with family hygiene kits, household supplies, and shelter materials. But there are so many more that need help.

Keep reading

CNN

Typhoon Parma slammed into the already storm-battered Philippines on Saturday afternoon, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes for safer shelter.

At 5 p.m (5 a.m. ET), Parma, known locally as Typhoon Pepeng, had maximum sustained winds of 148 kph ( 92 mph) with gusts as high as 185 kph (115mph) as it made landfall in a rural region of fishermen and farmers in Luzon, the largest of the Philippine islands.

The winds whipped the coastline and felled power lines in northernmost Cagayan Province. Debris littered the roads, making evacuations even more difficult.

Parma veered off to the north, avoiding a direct hit on heavily populated Manila. But the real menace in the Philippines capital was not wind. It was water, and there was no escape from it with Parma.

Keep Reading...

CNN

A tsunami, from the Japanese word for harbor wave, is a giant wave caused by an underwater disturbance, such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption.

Energy from the quake creates the initial wave, which splits into two – one wave moves out into the ocean while the other heads toward the shore. Most tsunamis do not create giant breaking waves on shore. Instead, they generate very fast and strong tides that make the sea level rise quickly.

Check out this interactive and learn about how tsunamis form and just what exactly are plate tectonics.

A few villages have been badly damaged, said Dr. Salamo Laumoli, director of health services.

CNN

A huge emergency effort is under way in the Samoan islands after towering tsunami waves triggered by an 8.0 earthquake left dozens dead and entire villages flattened or submerged.

At least 77 people are so far confirmed dead in American Samoa and neighboring Samoa but officials fear the toll will rise as rescue workers work to reach outlying villages. Seven people were also confirmed killed in Tonga.

The quake hit the small cluster of Samoan islands in the South Pacific early Tuesday.

In Samoa, the death toll currently stands at 55, according to government minister Maulolo Tavita, but he said he feared the number of casualities would continue to rise.

In American Samoa 22 people were confirmed dead by late Tuesday. But Salamo Laumoli, director of health services at the LBJ Tropical Medical Center in the capital, Pago Pago, said he feared more fatalities would turn up as rescue workers were still trying to access parts of the island severed by damaged infrastructure.

Keep Reading...

David Mattingly | BIO
AC360° Correspondent

It doesn’t look like it in this photograph but the water is moving enough to make it hard for me to keep my footing. These muddy waters are very deceptive. Some of the deaths in Georgia are the result of people being swept away as they attempted to drive through flood waters.

There’s more rain in the Atlanta forecast today making it less likely to see the water retreat.

More from David Mattingly on AC360° tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Luo Shou Luan (left) is comforted as she looks at what is left of her home village, Shiao Lin.

Program Note: For the latest on Typhoon Morakot, including information about the thousands of people still stranded from the typhoon last weekend, tune in to AC360° tonight at 10p ET. Below is a link to CNN's special section 'Impact Your World' with information about how to get involved.

Impact Your World

Typhoon Morakot unleashed its fury in Taiwan and mainland China and caused some of the worst flooding in a half-century. Dozens have died or are missing, with scores displaced or stranded.

Take action on the news you consume! These resources include some of the highest-rated charities by CharityNavigator.org (an independent and non-profit organization that evaluates and rates thousands of charity groups based on effectiveness and financial stability) and are vetted by CNN journalists for credibility. CNN does not endorse any organization and information is provided as an inspiration for you to explore the best ways for you to impact your world.

Click here to learn more about how you can help.

Program Note: For more ways to make a difference, visit Impact Your World.