A Television Documentary on Aitape Tsunami Tragedy
The
Aitape District of Sandaun. A better region of the Sepik. People
who live along the North Coast depend on fishing and farming
for their livelihood. They are predominately Catholic - in fact
the first missionaries made their inroad from this corner of
Papua New Guinea. Catholics celebrated 100 years of that historic
event just 3 years ago on Tumleo Island near Aitape. Spiritually
enriched, the people live in peace and harmony.
The 12, 000 or more people, who live in that area, concentrate in main communities or villages scattered along the waterfront. Warapu is the most populated; the others are Arop, Malol and Sissano. The villages are typical of Coastal Communities, where bush material houses surround classrooms and churches built with corrugate iron, timber and cement.
This part of Papua New Guinea has been at Peace with nature for decades until the evening of Friday July 17th 1998.
Tidal wave - as high as power
polls and speeds of several hundred kilometers an hour flattered
the communities. The four villages of Arop, Warapu, Malol and
Sissano were directly in front of the tsunami waves. It was triggered
by a massive earthquake about 30 kilometers off shore. Measuring
7 on the Ritcher scale, the earthquake generated devastating
waves that caused Papua New Guinea's worse natural disaster on
record. The dead will never know what happened. It will take
all of their lives for the survivors to come to terms.
Friday
evening July 17th was no different to any other day for the people
here. If there was anything new, a school play and a disco were
planned for that evening in one of the villages.
Sebastine Alusi - Gr. 2 student
attending Malol Community School
"We were on our way to Arop when the sea struck us. "
Why did you go to Arop?
We went to see our friends performing at Arop.
Did they go for disco?
Yes
Everyone thought nothing of the earthquake that rocked the area
just before or a little after 6 o'clock. Many of those have occurred
in that part of the country before.
Bonny Sule from Arop
"When
the earth quake occurred, we stopped the rugby game and we made
our way up from the beach. After a while, there was a sound like
a war plane. We thought it was the wind. When we looked further,
it was the tidal wave."
The rest of the villagers settled into their homes either having
or preparing dinner.
Dolores
from Arop:
"I
was frying sago."
Man
at Care Center:
"
I was very sick, lying inside the house when the tidal wave came."
"The frying pan was on the fire when the earth quake occurred.
Martina
from Warapu:
"We
were in the house cooking. We were scared and ran out of the
house.
" We heard the sound of the sea and we went out to see it.
The people were too pre-occupied or simply had no reason to notice
that the tide may have been too low and at an unusual time immediately
after the earthquake.
Dr.
Mennor Swier - Memisa Volunteer - Raihu Hospital.
"I remember we were drinking some beer and we were having
dinner and when the earth quake struck, in fact we were sitting
there with two priests and some local people, and they were telling
us that it was only a minor earth quake not too bad in fact.
And we went outside and people were telling us that the water
was withdrawn, long way out from the shore so we could see all
the coral just lying, And came back very slowly.
So we had a discussion with the local people about tidal waves.
And In fact they said the last tidal wave was in 1907."
Experts believe that the water had been drawn out to the open
sea forced by the earthquake and then released back to the beach
but not as a gradual high tide.
The tsunami waves struck the coastline at hundreds of kilometers
an hour bulldozing and drowning everything in its path.
Survivor
"As soon as the tidal wave reached the village, the place
became dark. I live and work in Siera. I was walking on the beach
after visiting relatives when I felt the huge earthquake. Then
the tidal wave came. I threw my bag and climbed a coconut tree.
While in the tree I realized that the tidal wave had already
covered me. But, somehow I survived on the coconut tree."
Bonny
Sule
"As
we looked beyond the beach, we could see the tidal wave coming.
It was as high as a house."
Abraham
from Arop:
"When
the tidal wave came, people were scared and ran outside. They
tried to escape but the tidal wave swept them away with disco
equipment. "
Bonny
Sule
"The
tidal wave knocked down many of us. It caused extensive damage
to our houses. We were shocked, we could've died, but the good
Lord saved us."
"The big wave swept us into the lagoon. We found ourselves
among the debris."
Sr. Margaret Conwei - Catholic
Church Malol
"It
was the earth quake first. Terrible earthquake and our water
tanks were just going so badly for the water swishing everywhere
that we decided that we better run outside. I think it wasn't
long after that but I'm not sure I've lost time and sequence
of everything, but." "I think it was before the second
earth quake. There was this terrible noise. Lot of the village
people came out cause we were quite close to their villages,
their homes. And we were all just standing there in silence,
just wondering what on earth this noise was. I've never heard
anything like it before. And then the people started running
down towards the beach just to see what it was. And I don't know
what it was, something in me just said it was a tidal wave. I
don't now why because I've never being through a tidal wave before.
It was just this horrific noise and I just said it's a tidal
wave and so sister Regina beside me, she screamed out with me
to tell them to come back, come back it's a tidal wave. And thank
God a lot of them did come back. After that, things happened
so fast."
Fr.
Austin Crapp ofm - Aitape Diocese Administrator
"I
think this disaster along the north coast of Aitape District
is on the same scale as the Mt Lamington eruption in Popondetta
in 1950. We estimate now after one day of looking at the disaster
that there are at least one thousand dead, many bodies are still
lying on the shore, many are still floating in the lagoon."
Within about 6 minutes, the time it took for three different
wave patterns to hit and re-tract, villages were gone, a generation
eliminated and thousand displaced in their minds and from their
birth land.
Nurse
"The
very serious ones is seven and this is eight. I think there are
three more there but other are still around here."
On Saturday July 18th, news of the tidal wave and its trail of
death and destruction reached mission and Government authorities
in Aitape, Vanimo, Wewak and ultimately Port Moresby.
Natural
Audio
"Name please?" - "Julie..." - "A
girl..."
"Father?" - "Jessie"
Coordinated rescue operations went into swing about 18 to 24 hours later. Before that, survivors at the disaster zone had to over-come their own state of shock, fear and pain to help those seriously injured…and there were many of them, particularly children.
John
Amanos:
"When
the earth quake occurred I got into a boat, I drifted but the
waves capsized the boat. I lost one of my kids. After the wave
receded, I swam to shore to save the people. I put children in
the boat and took them to Nimas.
Later that night, I helped men and women to Amsor. I went back
to save more people."
Patrick
Amanos:
"
We gathered the injured and held them in places where doctors
examined them and later sent them to Wewak and Vanimo."
The calm, collective and uncompromising manner in which the injured
helped the injured remains the untold strength of the people
themselves.
Sr.
Margaret Conwei
"This
is delta Siera, this is delta Siera. Is there any one on air
please, is there anyone on air, we've had a terrible disaster
here, is there anyone on air, this is delta Siera."
The Catholic mission's sister Magaret Conwei, witnessed a great
deal of what happened and sent out the first alarm.
Sr. Magaret Conwei
"All
I know is that night when we had so many of them coming into
the house and none of us nurses. All we could do is get our Detal
… Bandages and sticking plaster and try and clean them up.
As they got worse with the brakes and this huge gashes we knew
would have to be stitched.
I ran up to the scud to just try and get help just to see if
there was any one who could sent help to us. So I just called
up on the skied that night "is there anyone on air. "Is
there anyone listening I was really desperate.
We worked almost right through the night with the people and
then The next morning the first thing I rang morning I ran up
again when I could not get anyone the night before. And thank
God Bro. Steven was on the sked and I just said the same as I
said the night before "Is there any one on air, is there
anyone at all. This is delta Sierra and we've had a terrible
disaster and we need help quickly. And then Bro. Stevens voice
came up and I just, I think I could have hugged him through the
sked (radio). It was just such a relief that somebody in the
outside knew at long last that something had happened. And I
sort left him to do what he had to do in Aitape. And the next
thing it was Linah and another nurse, George came and I think
I sort of relaxed at that minute because it was such a relief
to see her."
Lenah Napmuku - Matron - Raihu
Hospital
"Well it was shocking because everybody was already
here and they were victims, children and adults with broken limbs,
arms some with sticks still poking through their limbs like the
leg; So there was no time to stand around and watch what note,
like Sr. Margaret was already here. She did her best but she
just rested them… She collected everybody and left them
there in front of the classroom. So when I came we went straight
to work. We dropped down our bags and quickly ran through the
patients that were there already the victims. And I had an assistance
another nurse (church health worker) George. So I was identifying
the patients and I got him to quickly put up drips to some of
them who were in shock. And Jack Siroi, the seminarian you met
was assisting there, assisting George trying to put up drips."
Rescue from outside the disaster zone came primarily from missionaries.
They were among the first to reach the injured.
Dr. Menno
"I stepped on the boat and went straight to this disaster
area just to check out what was really going on. I've never been
in situations like this so it was very hard to picture what really
the problem was. So I took I think one and a half-hour to reach
the spot by boat and just came to the shore and it was absolutely
devastating what has happened. Because in my opinion it was one
of the most beautiful spots in this area. The whole village was
absolutely gone and there was no houses more standing and people
were lying on the beach and were totally devastated, swollen
faces and broken arms and bones. Everybody was just wondering
around like a very idealistic situation."
Br. Garry Hill ofm - Health Extension
Officer (HEO) Nuku Health Centre
"When
this thing happened, Br. James contacted and said "how can
we help," and somebody said " we need an helicopter,"
and he had the contact."
"Br. James Coucher CP - diocese
of Vanimo
"The
first ones to respond was Highlands gold at Frieda River, Paul
Green. I rang him and asked him if there was any chance of a
helicopter, because there was a disaster at Vanimo. The only
question he asked was 'how long did I need a helicopter for.
And I wasn't able to tell him. I said one-day maybe two, three,
four, five, six days; I've no idea. That was the only question
he asked, and he said get back to me in ten minutes. Which I
did. And he said there will be a helicopter off the ground in
five minutes."
Br. Garry
Hill
"They just dropped everything. Himself and Mev the pilot.
They just dropped everything and came. And they worked entirely
all day, all Saturday, six o'clock Sunday to six o'clock Sunday
night, all day Monday. Just shuttling patients in. And also when
I was one the beach there with Paul, you could see he was really
affected. He was really concerned about the people. How can we
do more. He mentioned there were five bodies down in the lagoon.
We went and had a look at them and I walked around the lagoon
and found another seven bodies. Ten of them were children, two
of them were adults. Then I heard a splashing noise and there
was a woman holding on to the side of a canoe there. And I called
Paul down and we got this woman out of the water. She
had also fractured her femur and carried her up to the chopper
for an air lift."
Other choppers and fixed wings
from Vanimo air, hevi lift and charters were later involved in
what was a fairly large scale airlifting of the injured to safety
and for medical treatment.
Br. James
Coucher CP - diocese of Vanimo
"I then went to Vanimo trading and they immediately put
their three planes at our service and went down to MAF and they
made their planes available. So we had there five planes altogether
working for three days. Getting in the supplies that were necessary
and more importantly bringing out the injured people."
Some 24 to 30 hours after the
Tsunami waves struck, nearly 100 seriously injured were airlift
to the Aitape Hospital and 7 to Vanimo.
By Sunday large numbers of injured were airlifted to both Vanimo
and Aitape as well as Wewak.
Br. Garry
"The first couple of days, you could imagine 150 people
just laid out on the floor waiting to go into theater. No telephones.
It was like a real disaster area."
The busiest of the hospitals was Raihu in Aitape. The ironical
background to this health facility is that the Catholic mission,
which runs the hospital, decided to shut it down on Friday, the
day of the tragedy.
Brian
Barnes ofm - Archbishop of Port Moresby
"Closed
down because the funds had not come for a long period to run
the health services in the diocese. And so Raihu health centre
and ten health sub centers around the diocese were all shut down
because of shortage of funds on that very day, several hours
before the tidal wave hit."
But the next day Saturday, Raihu became the nerve center. A major
relief operation where lives were saved. By Saturday evening,
95 patients had to be treated.
Dr. Bart Vullings - Memisa Volunteer-
Raihu Hospital
"The
most impressive case I think was about a child who was about
ten years old who came here with a cast around the leg. And I
saw through the bandage the leg was severely injured. So I took
her to the theatre, I saw the leg, I knew there was going to
be amputated so I talked to the mother who was there and she
agreed on it. She saw the leg too. I amputated and the same night
she died this child. And the mother was so exhausted that she
fell asleep with the child in her arms. And when I can the next
morning, she was sleeping there with the dead child in her arms.
I was a sight that I still remember and it's heart breaking."
For the medical personnel, nurses and doctors, Raihu may well
have been a busy city hospital. Within two weeks they had to
carry out 208 major surgeries. That's the number even the well-established
hospitals could not describe as normal.
Dr. Mennor Swier- Memisa Volunteer-
Raihu Hospital
"I
think the hospital changed into a MASH scene. You know the MASH
scene. It was the sort of impression I had. Because all these
helicopters came in every fifteen minutes, we had these chopper
coming in brought in ten totally devastated people. We had people
waiting with stretchers brought them into the wards and we did
the assessment over there. From there people were divided for
x-rays or serious cases in ward one and two.
We tried to put up the system as good as we could and off course
were not equipped and not ready for situation like this."
Dr.
Bart Vullings - Memisa Volunteer- Raihu Hospital
"Well,
we did not have much supplies at that stage. We couldn't work
sterile for instance. We just had to wash the material as soon
as possible and sock them in iodine for ten minutes and then
we could re-use the scissors again. There was no other way; we
only had five pair of scissors. We did not have any sterile gloves.
There were no gauges so we used cotton wool and all these things.
Until Sunday, we asked already for supplies and then things were
made available and we could improve our standard of work. But
at that time there was no other way, we just had to improvised
and just get patients in and patients out and the next one in
just continue working from eight o'clock in the morning until
12 o'clock at night."
Br. Garry
Hill
"Bessy has got a fractured femur, and the mother held
the child during the big wave. I think its about three weeks
we have left the child in traction, and also the child can exercise
a little bit, so it can move around. And been a very small baby
at three months, it should heal very quickly.
"Grace came in with an injury where the bone was exposed.
Quite a large wound which where the bone was exposed. We had
a doctor who was a surgeon who cut through here so that the skin
came over covered the bone with muscle and its taken quite well.
"She had another injury in the leg here. A lot of the patients
here have got two or three injury. Not just one injury. And infection
is a big problem. We've got to make sure that they are very clean.
So far, we've done about 208 operations in the two weeks.
See it has heal up quite well, the bone was exposed. It was actually
a flap coming down and the flaps been put back."
The medical attention was crucial in the initial stages. But in this situations, the more personnel and human touch was important, particularly for the injured children. This is where Franciscan brother Garry Hill came in.
Br.
Garry Hill
"If the child or the young trust you. The parents turn to
trust you and they make it easier to treat the child. But if
he comes in screaming and is scared of you, it's very hard to
listen to his chest, or have a look at his ears. If a child trusts
you and comes over and sits on you knee and you can look at him
and examine him. So I carry on a bit with one of this little
thing as it goes down…. And the kids can play with these
and before they know it they are full examine.
And just to have something different. Coming in the ward with
flashing lights on your head or something. I mean you don't do
it everyday. It's just an entertaining thing."
As it turned out, the disaster sent over 700 people to hospitals
as inpatients. Raihu could not cope. Many had to be transferred
to Vanimo, the provincial hospital of the Sundaun Province. Initially
seven injured were sent to Vanimo on Saturday. The next day Sunday,
the hospital was flooded. By Monday, three days after the tidal
wave, the hospital was still in an emergency situation. Many
seriously injured were on the edge of life and death. Here, doctors
tried unsuccessfully tried to save a woman. Her death witnessed
by Prime Minister Bill Skate who had gone into the disaster sight.
As medical supplies were running
low in both Raihu and Vanimo, and personnel exhausted, an Australian
Defense force medical unit flew into Vanimo and immediately set
up a field hospitals.
The Australians helped the locals by working on some of the seriously
injured.
Medical Unit Doctor- Australian
Defense Force
"
So the survivors have mainly leg, arm injuries. A lot of soft
tissue injuries where wood and other objects have penetrated
the skin, driving corals and mud deep into the wounds, producing
this very infective mix that threatens limbs and at this stage
threatens life."
Australian
Medical Officer
"A
young guy named Sebastine and he has got some burn and some gray
type marks on his legs. But what we've found out as you can probably
see, there is a fair little bit of swelling in both feet and
that is actually gas gangrene. And if he doesn't have an operation
and surgery tonight, his feet probably would not make it.."
One of the unfortunate but life
saving medical decisions was amputation. In Vanimo, four had
to be carried out. One of them was on ten year - old Sebastine
from Malol village.
Sebastine's medical journey from Malol to Vanimo did not end
there. Together with many other patients, he flew to Wewak.
"Bend your knees right back."
This is where all the after care treatment was provided particularly
for the amputees as well as the nerve injuries.
Sebastine then became part of a group of amputees under the care
of Peter van de Bos, a physiotherapist of the Wewak Callang Services.
Peter
van de Bos - Physiotherapist- Callang Services Wewak
"We
are exercising him to get this leg strong and to get hands strong
so that by the time that he can get an artificial limb, he is
strong enough to walk."
"Down, push strong. Lift
it up, right up."
From a painful and traumatic journey from Malol , to Vanimo and
on to Wewak; at least a smile, just a small laugh among the patients
was a big difference.
The after care in Wewak has proved successful for some. There
are those that showed remarkable recovery. But there are also
those who will take a long time or never.
Peter
von de Bos
"This
is Iiarus, he comes from Arop. Arop was in the middle of the
tidal wave. He is one of the four patients that we have with
a …(brakio plceslisen) That is where part of the nerves
system is damaged and this arm is not working at all."
"This is Pauline. She has the same kind of condition as
Iliarus. Only in her arm there is a very little moment possible
so we are exercising her already, but how it is going to look
like is very unpredictable."
In all disasters, whatever the magnitude, however tragic and
where ever they might be, there are extra-ordinary accounts of
heroic actions, miracle survivals as well as some cruel outcomes.
Aitape had several of those.
This woman lost her husband and four of her seven children.
Agnes Apon
"
I was carrying my baby and holding the hand of the other child.
We tried to swim but couldn't. The wave was so strong and I lost
my two children.
I did not know where they were. We were separated. I prayed until
morning. Then I heard my daughter Selina crying, mummy, mummy
help me. I replied, Selina. She said, yes mummy, I'm here. I
walked slowly through the mangroves and helped her. Then we prayed.
Later people found my other daughter on the roof of a house.
She was unhurt. As for my other daughter Gertrude, people took
her to the bush. I found her later in hospital. I cried. Then
I asked the nurses to bring her to the ward t stay with me and
the other daughters."
This
young mother lost her husband as well. The child she has now
was only three weeks old on July 17. Her fight against the might
of the tidal wave to save her is quite an extraordinary story.
The mother is now in Vanimo.
Bishop
Ceasare Bonivento - Diocese of Vanimo
"Spontaneously
she pressed the baby to her breast. And it was the only way to
save her. And when she was covered with water, the only thing
she did was to lift up the baby above her head and to keep the
baby above the water. After that she surfaced. And then she was
able to keep the baby to safety. And she did that just because
she was asking the lord to give her strength. Finally she was
able to land somewhere.
She was with the other child Gorethy. Somebody called her name
and he told her that Gorethy was close by and eventually she
was able to gather her two children. And they are here. Still
safe and sound."
In another sad story, this woman also lost her husband and children.
The baby was born immediately after the tragedy.
Lady Carol Kidu
"Agnila
is from Arop. During the tidal wave she lost her husband and
three children. Last night in the care center at Pou, she gave
birth to her new son here. "
Agnila
"Seeing
my son is worrying me about my dead husband."
Grace from Arop
"The
tidal wave carried me into the mangroves where my leg was caught
under a log. I stayed there until morning.
Who found you in the morning?
I was found by people who returned from the bush. The heard my
cry for help and removed the log. My mum is alive. But my dad,
baby brother and two brothers after me are dead."
In all these amazing cases of bravery, miracle survivals or as
some described it, returning from hell, there are some sole survivors
who lost not just families but a whole lot of relatives. Several
of them see their survival not as a blessing but further punishment.
Fr. Makario Waganiwalu sm - Psychologist
- Fiji
"A
lot of people cannot still come to terms with the great loss
and others who have lost
the mother, parents, the mothers who have lost their children,
the husband who have lost
their wives and children these are still dazed still shocked.
When I talk to them and when the counselors go out, they are
still very depressed. And with the depression there is a lot
of weakness, they are not thinking properly they are not in the
conditions to think to decide for themselves."
Song:
"If your life is not straight, tell Jesus to change you.
Tell him, tell him, he can change you."
This church
service three weeks later at Tales, was packed to capacity.
But immediately after the Mass, the people couldn't wait to get
away from the sea and the lagoons.
Br. Jack Siroi - Catholic Church
Malol
"They
are all going up back to the bush where they said there is
four camps. One is Kunai that belongs to big Malol. That's Amsormayanwuar,
and Tainibin is going they own a bit of land in the bush not
"Nobody is straying down in the village.
Why?
They are all just too scared. That's the answer they are gonna
give. We tried to convince them to come and stay in the upper
part where the station is, but it will take some time I think."
Healing the minds and the wounds is perhaps only half of the
rehabilitation process. The other is coming to terms with the
Sea, the beaches, the lagoons. These have been part of the people's
way of life for decades. They received from them their fun and
food and hid in them their sacred and believes.
Sr.
Margaret Conwei.
On
the Saturday morning early, we knew they'd found the babies in
the baret (ditch)
there and the little bared down this way. Some body then told
me that Teles was washed
out. A little girl was brought up to us. She was dead; they'd
found her. We took her
down on the tractor to try and find the mother, we could not
find the mother or the father
who she belongs to, we only found her family.
And then I jumped off the tractor at Yulingi and I walked dawn
to Teles just to see if
there were people down there needing a hand and I met mama after
mamas after mama
with little tiny babies.
And each time when I went to put a little sign of the cross on
their foreheads they were
cold they were dead. I did not really cope really well at all.
The mamas were going off
to plant them. I got a little more and more upset as I went along
because there would
have being eight or nine that I met. Then I left them and I came
back and went across to
big Malol.
Then I saw just dead bodies everywhere I just, think I was as
stunned as the people were. You felt so helpless. I felt goodness
what has happened here.
Sr.
Lina
"We
all live under you plan, o lord. Our families no longer live
here. They are now in the bush. Some of them are still hiding.
We've lost some of our family members. Father, I ask you to bless
all my people who have died here. Bless people who were affected
by the tidal wave. Give them strength. They are afraid and hiding.
They are homeless. God I Hankyu. May you give tem a new strength
to start again. For our children who died here, God, we ask you
to accept their spirit and give them eternal peace."
The exact number of people killed
will not be known for a long time. The number has been put so
far at 2 200. Bodies that could be found received some sort of
dignified burials, many were not.
The Sissano lagoon is believed to be one spot where many of the
dead are today.
Its now out of bound and debates continue over whether the lagoon
should be declared a national mass grave.
Bernard
Narakobi
"And
now as I go back to this places, and as I look over this emptiness.
This desolate, haunted place of skeletons, dead bodies, debris
everywhere, broken coconut and trees, with not a single stump
of trees standing. I just simply couldn't help but weep openly."
And that in just about 6 minutes
on Friday, July 17th 1998. Papua New Guinea's worse Natural disaster
in its history.
Song:
By John Wong
Tears
fell from my eyes while watching the news on EMTV. On Friday
night in July, tidal wave in Aitape.
I cried and wept for the victim. Lets pray to go for his mercy.
Sorry, sorry, Aitape, Sissano
I moan with you.
Sorry, sorry, Aitape, Sissano I'm crying for you.
We are Papua New Guineans. Let's cooperate to help the victims
of Aitape. Please hear the children's' cry. They don't have any
parents. We must be strong to correct these difficulties. Help
little children, they are our future leaders.
Sorry, sorry, Aitape, Sissano, I moan for you.
Sorry, sorry, Aitape, Sissano
I'm crying for you.
The documentary was produced in order to help people to understand
what really happened in Aitape on July 17th 1998. We tried to
document the relief efforts carried out by the Catholic Church,
members of the public as well as some NGO's.
The video "Wave" and other reports from Aitape Rehabilitation and Restoration are available from RTA or EMTV. We hope to complete a second part of the documentary called "From Care Centres to New Villages" by the end of 2000.
Producers:
Fr. Zdzislaw Mlak svd,
John Eggins,
Noella Wavu,
Richard Kelebi
Religious Television Association of Papua New Guinea
P.O. Box 7671, Boroko, NCD.
Tel: (675) 323 5809, Fax: (675) 311 3091,
email: zdzislw@online.net.pg