Logisticians gear up quake response

The British Red Cross logistics emergency response unit (ERU) has now fully deployed in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, as part of the massive humanitarian relief effort following the weekend’s devastating earthquake.

The five-person British Red Cross ERU – comprising a team leader, an air operations manager, a warehousing expert, a systems delegate and an information officer – started work in Yogyakarta early on Tuesday.

The mobilisation – coordinated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – now includes teams from at least ten National Societies, as well as staff and volunteers of the Indonesian Red Cross, Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI).

The relief operation is aiming to provide water, food, shelter and medical care to some 10,000 families in Yogyakarta and surrounding areas. PMI staff and volunteers began delivering humanitarian assistance to affected communities within hours of the quake, which struck on May 27, devastating towns and villages around the Javanese city of Yogyakarta.

Race against time

The official death toll following the quake now stands at 5,700. More than 16,000 people are injured and it is estimated that 200,000 have lost their homes.

“Following the rapid response of the first few days, we will be developing the longer-term infrastructure for a complex and consolidated aid response,” Cuckow said. “We are working closely with the distribution teams to get the aid pipeline working as rapidly and efficiently as possible.”

Now that the monsoon season has begun, providing shelter is an urgent priority for the many thousands who have been forced to flee their homes. Some 16,300 tents have already been flown into the region. A further 2,700 are due to arrive over the next five days.

A Red Cross field hospital has been set up in the Bantul district of Yogyakarta, one of the most severely affected. Some 70 to 90 percent of buildings and homes in Bantul were damaged or destroyed.