The tsunami in Phuket left Paola di Maio with little more than 4 liters of water but, crucially, an Internet connection. As the information systems designer and her friends helped with the rescue effort while helicopters buzzed overhead, she realized that one thing was missing: information.
Together with Dina Mehta, Peter Griffin and a small band of other Internet enthusiasts in the region, including students from New Delhi and a TV producer in Sri Lanka, Di Maio set up SEA-EAT, the South East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami weblog. Visited by 21,000 people Tuesday, it has fast become the key online clearing house for people to share information and contact details.
While government hotlines jam or ring unanswered and international aid efforts appear uncoordinated, desperate relatives have gone online to search for their loved ones or simply to help the aid effort.
At the scene of the disaster, survivors have also bypassed official communication channels. As well as virtual noticeboards, hundreds of actual noticeboards have sprung up. Names, numbers, photographs and appeals for information about missing friends and relatives have been pinned up outside hospitals and beside resorts in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India.
The founders of the virtual rescue centers such as SEA-EAT are not surprised that people are turning to the Internet, with its instantly and succinctly published information offering everything from contact numbers of consulates to details about how to get a portable toilet.
"The Internet is being used more and more by the families of victims because it is faster and the communication is much more effective," said Ankit Gupta, one of SEA-EAT's volunteers based in New Delhi. "One always comes across red tape no matter what in our third world countries."
Di Maio said governments and aid agencies could use the Web far more.
"The Internet, reasonably reliable and fast, is not used by authorities nor rescue services to communicate, despite the fact that it has been up without interruption during the entire crisis. Governments and authorities should use the Internet as we do. Costs would be lower and results much better coordinated."
Another online volunteer, Bala Pitchandi, stayed up until midnight at his home in New Jersey in the US helping to publish information on SEA-EAT.
"Blogging is such a powerful tool since it can be used by ordinary people like me to publish views and news," he said. "Dozens of volunteers who have never met have gotten together to start this and many of the contributors are there at the scene to help the world know what's really going on."
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS