Toll rises in tsunami-hit Solomons

At least 28 found dead and more are expected as aid and rescue efforts increase.

earthquake tsunami solomons
Medical workers are warning of the danger of malaria outbreaks among the displaced thousands [AFP]
Sanitation
 

“It’s safe now to go back to the village, but you know people are still traumatised and are still up in the bush, but slowly some of them are going back”

Charles Kelly, Solomon Islands’ Red Cross

Officials estimate that 1,000 homes were destroyed, with the Western and Choiseul Provinces taking the brunt of the tsunami.

 
An estimated 4,500 homeless people are being advised to return home as sanitation problems emerge at hilltop refugee camps.
 
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said “public health experts are warning of the potential danger of malaria outbreaks among the displaced population”.
 
But islanders are bracing themselves for more tremors amid continuing strong aftershocks and are reluctant to return to their villages.
 
“It’s safe now to go back to the village, but you know people are still traumatised and are still up in the bush, but slowly some of them are going back,” said Kelly.
 
International aid is coming in with pledges for more money and food, as well as medical supplies and services.
 
A six-member UN Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination team is en route to the cluster of South Pacific islands.
 
Warning system
 

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The Red Cross says islanders
need water and tents [Reuters]

Critics say that Monday’s tsunami exposed the limitations of a warning system that supporters champion as the best means of avoiding a repeat of the Indian Ocean disaster in December 2004.

 
An American earthquake expert said an early tsunami warning system would not have made much difference in the Solomon Islands as people only had minutes to flee.
 
An Australian official, meanwhile, acknowledged that a tsunami warning issued for the Queensland coast was undermined by widespread panic and a lack of clear information about whether the waves were actually headed their way.
 
Peter Beattie, Queensland’s prime minister, told the Seven Network on Tuesday: “We got the emergency people together and we were trying to ascertain ‘is there really a tsunami coming, if so how big is it, and how far are we going to need to encourage people to leave the coastline?’
 
“We couldn’t get that information… We didn’t know the extent of the problem. We were shooting blind,” he added.