Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Nearly 200,000 people are suffering from flood-related disease in the capital city of Indonesia after a week of rain -? and the ensuing floodwaters -? drove more than 400,000 people from their homes.
Many of those have returned home, but the city faces an enormous challenge in cleaning up the damage, Rustam Pakaya, director of the Health Ministry?s crisis center, told the Melbourne Herald-Sun. Officials are concerned, however, that disease could spread among people who remain in cramped emergency shelters or move back into houses that lack clean water, plumbing and power.
The flooding killed almost 100 in the region, which is home to 14 million people. About 9,000 soldiers and police were deployed to help with the cleanup. Officials put out a call for disinfectant, shovels, spades, hoes, school uniforms and books, as well as wheelbarrows, which can access small alleys that garbage trucks cannot enter.
Many of those have returned home, but the city faces an enormous challenge in cleaning up the damage, Rustam Pakaya, director of the Health Ministry?s crisis center, told the Melbourne Herald-Sun. Officials are concerned, however, that disease could spread among people who remain in cramped emergency shelters or move back into houses that lack clean water, plumbing and power.
The flooding killed almost 100 in the region, which is home to 14 million people. About 9,000 soldiers and police were deployed to help with the cleanup. Officials put out a call for disinfectant, shovels, spades, hoes, school uniforms and books, as well as wheelbarrows, which can access small alleys that garbage trucks cannot enter.