From the Americas and the Caribbean:
ReliefWeb New YorkOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian AffairsUnited NationsNew York, NY 10017, USATel. +1-212-963-1234
Call them about the Miskito Coast disaster. A rude Frenchman will tell you it is the wrong number and to call FEMA. Then he hangs up.
On a Reuters video photo op, Ortega says the only resupply possible for the Miskito Coast is by air. Tell that to our heroes, Josh, Jason and Juan, who are out of phone contact in Big Sandy Bay in one of 200 ships available in Bluefields. The government only knows how to hold out its hand for help, but will not help itself. Why hasn't Bluefields been mobilized? Our kids did it with nothing.
I hope the US Navy will see our US flagged ship as a local asset and assist our young heroes in a joint mission with water, fuel and food. The kids must be tired of eating plateno bananas.
My maps have lost their initial importance, the Miskito People have congregated in visible groups now, found by watching the US Navy Helicopter flights. Those Navy guys are good. However, our ship can hold much more weight than a helicopter and do it less expensively, though more slowly. I hope we can help.
The news is slow to report on anything except euphramisms from big aid orgs. about what they have "in motion". There are very few "on-site claims". The most agressive group down there are the three "J's": Josh, Jason and Juan. I hope all is well. NPR posted some photos of food riots at the helicopter drops in Big Sandy Bay yesterday. Violence. I called Southcom and voiced my concern for the kids to the US Navy last night and this morning. Even heroes can get hurt.
We are on the crest of this evolving rescue drama. You are ahead of the news. I'll report as soon as the boys can call. IZ
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
CRITICAL: First Water to Reach Pto. Cabezas!!!
Josh, Jason and Juan's ship from the Gulf King Texas Shrimp Co. in Bluefields was the first to deliver water into the Hurricane zone this afternoon. They supplied some water to the Pto. Cabezas Hospital (which was dry) and had to leave women with babies crying for water at the dock and sail away. The US Navy has helicopter medical flights in evidence, but they had little water carrying capacity. No other organizations are bringing water as far as anyone can see...this is a slow witted disaster response by common standards, or perhaps no response at all.
We had to break off because the water need is ever the more critical 30 miles north at Big Sandy Bay! Bodies have been seen floating all the way up into Honduran waters. Perhaps we can work with the USNS Comfort, the mother ship of the helicopters and ferry in fresh water supplies from their desalinization plants. We can run in much shallower water, closer to the coast. We could also give them deck space for their medical teams to operate, if needed.
In any case, we will run short of diesel and water before long. The Gulf King has perhaps 70 similar ships to ours in the Bluefields region. I imagine that if fuel and oil was supplied , the head office of: Gulf King Shrimp Co.
322 Huff StreetAransas Pass, TX 78336 (361) 758-5373 might provide even more assistance in this emergency, but we can't expect them to carry this burden alone. As it is, we are thankful for the good help they have given us already.
If you've read this far, perhaps you can see that we know what the hell we're talking about in this disaster. There are a lot more dead and dying than any reporter can see from a bar room stool in Managua. THERE IS A POTENTIAL OF THOUSANDS of victims, mark my words.
LIFE AND DEATH NEEDS
1) We need hundreds of huge (High "Mill" thickness) black plastic tarps to catch rainwater. This is a light and cheap donation...the best kind.
2) Cash for hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel for this ship and hopefully more.
3) Small operating cash for Josh, Jason and Juan. Food, batteries, minutes, hats, whatever. Sunscreen!
We're not going to beg or hold up hungry babies, but if you want to help this fine crew finish their exceptional and important work, your donation could not possibly do more good, dollar for dollar...and it is tax deductible.
Call Bob, IZ, Susan or Robert Izdepski at 985-882-7286; 24/7, or subocean@charter.net
We had to break off because the water need is ever the more critical 30 miles north at Big Sandy Bay! Bodies have been seen floating all the way up into Honduran waters. Perhaps we can work with the USNS Comfort, the mother ship of the helicopters and ferry in fresh water supplies from their desalinization plants. We can run in much shallower water, closer to the coast. We could also give them deck space for their medical teams to operate, if needed.
In any case, we will run short of diesel and water before long. The Gulf King has perhaps 70 similar ships to ours in the Bluefields region. I imagine that if fuel and oil was supplied , the head office of: Gulf King Shrimp Co.
322 Huff StreetAransas Pass, TX 78336 (361) 758-5373 might provide even more assistance in this emergency, but we can't expect them to carry this burden alone. As it is, we are thankful for the good help they have given us already.
If you've read this far, perhaps you can see that we know what the hell we're talking about in this disaster. There are a lot more dead and dying than any reporter can see from a bar room stool in Managua. THERE IS A POTENTIAL OF THOUSANDS of victims, mark my words.
LIFE AND DEATH NEEDS
1) We need hundreds of huge (High "Mill" thickness) black plastic tarps to catch rainwater. This is a light and cheap donation...the best kind.
2) Cash for hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel for this ship and hopefully more.
3) Small operating cash for Josh, Jason and Juan. Food, batteries, minutes, hats, whatever. Sunscreen!
We're not going to beg or hold up hungry babies, but if you want to help this fine crew finish their exceptional and important work, your donation could not possibly do more good, dollar for dollar...and it is tax deductible.
Call Bob, IZ, Susan or Robert Izdepski at 985-882-7286; 24/7, or subocean@charter.net
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Hurricane Felix disaster relief
For a while, Hurricane Felix looked as if he might pass north of Cape Gracias a Dios. This cruel hoax was enough to slow early evacuations in Nicaragua, until it was too late. Then the killer curved south and quickly strengthened from a category 3 to the deadliest category, 5. This meant certain death for hundreds of Miskito Indians on the low-lying coast north of Puerto Cabezas, in Big Sandy Bay. My friends, Indian Rights Leader, Elvis Dublon and Dr. Umberto Castro Olayo, flew into the coast from Managua to protect their people, just before it hit. These guys are men by any definition that matters in a crisis. We’ll hear from them in a few days.
When Felix struck, there was a 2-man video team with three HDV cameras in Managua. No relief organization appeared ready to respond. Young Josh and Jason of the video crew tried to get a helicopter or a plane, tried to get in with army transport, got ready to drive in as far as they could and finally decided to personally mount an audacious sea-born rescue of the Big Sandy Bay region…population 12,000 Miskito Indians. This is the low-lying area where the eye-wall hit. It is also the heart of the Miskito Indian culture.
Trouble was they had $130 US, no supplies, no ship, no support and no chance. That didn’t matter, they would win anyway. They had one friend, Juan Samuel, a Black Miskito Indian whom I never knew to back away from anything during my 13 years of Human Rights work in Central America. Even if no one else in the whole region, including some well-financed groups, ever got to Big Sandy Bay, these guys would get there and save lives.
Josh Izdepski was in Big Sandy Bay 10 years before, on a six-week expedition, when he was 14. The day Felix struck, he turned 24. Now he was a film maker, with his friend, Jason.
The fly-over information states that there is no more Sandy Bay…There is no ground information. Josh and Jason aim to change that.
Updates as information becomes available...
RVIZ
www.suboceansafety.com
When Felix struck, there was a 2-man video team with three HDV cameras in Managua. No relief organization appeared ready to respond. Young Josh and Jason of the video crew tried to get a helicopter or a plane, tried to get in with army transport, got ready to drive in as far as they could and finally decided to personally mount an audacious sea-born rescue of the Big Sandy Bay region…population 12,000 Miskito Indians. This is the low-lying area where the eye-wall hit. It is also the heart of the Miskito Indian culture.
Trouble was they had $130 US, no supplies, no ship, no support and no chance. That didn’t matter, they would win anyway. They had one friend, Juan Samuel, a Black Miskito Indian whom I never knew to back away from anything during my 13 years of Human Rights work in Central America. Even if no one else in the whole region, including some well-financed groups, ever got to Big Sandy Bay, these guys would get there and save lives.
Josh Izdepski was in Big Sandy Bay 10 years before, on a six-week expedition, when he was 14. The day Felix struck, he turned 24. Now he was a film maker, with his friend, Jason.
The fly-over information states that there is no more Sandy Bay…There is no ground information. Josh and Jason aim to change that.
Updates as information becomes available...
RVIZ
www.suboceansafety.com
Hurricane Felix – Disaster Response 9.6.07
48 Hrs. after the passing
Tonight, in a high-speed miracle, with well-provisioned ship, the boys set sail for Big Sandy Bay. Caught up by this spirit, two dive boats follow them north with supplies and water. This charging rescue fleet’s departure is bittersweet. News has come in that at least 100 men are dead in the offshore Cayes 12-20 miles east of Big Sandy Bay. The storm killed some and the rest died of thirst, marooned in the saltwater mangroves; a bitter end. As incredibly fast as this rescue has developed, we are too late for the offshore islets, the Cayes, regrettably.
In reading the papers, I suppress a nervous laugh at the casualty count. 4, then 12, now twenty with 200 missing. That must be the number in Puerto Cabezas; and I’m sure it is low.
How can uncounted Indians be missing? As I know this coast well, I know that many hundreds have died with many more to come, unless there is intervention. Cholera may break out from unburied bodies and dysentery is already draining people to death. The government does not want to look like the "Katrina Clowns", so the “real” official numbers may never be counted.
Josh, Jason and the indomitable Juan Samuel will know the real story in the morning, about 60 hrs. after the passing. They will work without ceasing to save people and be out of communication for a few days. I wish my son, Josh, and his comrades health and success in the climax of their rescue; I can only wait to hear from them and pray for their safety and success.
We’ve done pretty well with nothing, yet again. I hope you will support Sub Ocean Safety to empower us to assist these people further. If you want to see a milliion dollar rescue with $130, stay tuned.
IZ, is
http://www.suboceansafety.com/
Tonight, in a high-speed miracle, with well-provisioned ship, the boys set sail for Big Sandy Bay. Caught up by this spirit, two dive boats follow them north with supplies and water. This charging rescue fleet’s departure is bittersweet. News has come in that at least 100 men are dead in the offshore Cayes 12-20 miles east of Big Sandy Bay. The storm killed some and the rest died of thirst, marooned in the saltwater mangroves; a bitter end. As incredibly fast as this rescue has developed, we are too late for the offshore islets, the Cayes, regrettably.
In reading the papers, I suppress a nervous laugh at the casualty count. 4, then 12, now twenty with 200 missing. That must be the number in Puerto Cabezas; and I’m sure it is low.
How can uncounted Indians be missing? As I know this coast well, I know that many hundreds have died with many more to come, unless there is intervention. Cholera may break out from unburied bodies and dysentery is already draining people to death. The government does not want to look like the "Katrina Clowns", so the “real” official numbers may never be counted.
Josh, Jason and the indomitable Juan Samuel will know the real story in the morning, about 60 hrs. after the passing. They will work without ceasing to save people and be out of communication for a few days. I wish my son, Josh, and his comrades health and success in the climax of their rescue; I can only wait to hear from them and pray for their safety and success.
We’ve done pretty well with nothing, yet again. I hope you will support Sub Ocean Safety to empower us to assist these people further. If you want to see a milliion dollar rescue with $130, stay tuned.
IZ, is
http://www.suboceansafety.com/
Hurricane Felix – Disaster Response 9.6.07
36 hrs. after the passing
The boys have made it to Bluefields and are enlisting the town in this rescue effort. They get $3,000 worth of diesel from thin air, food, medicine, tarps, buckets, Clorox, etc. All they can hold! The loading of the ship begins in earnest.
IZ
www.suboceansafety.com
The boys have made it to Bluefields and are enlisting the town in this rescue effort. They get $3,000 worth of diesel from thin air, food, medicine, tarps, buckets, Clorox, etc. All they can hold! The loading of the ship begins in earnest.
IZ
www.suboceansafety.com
Hurricane Felix – Disaster Response 9.5.07
24 hrs. after the hit:
UPDATE: IZ
The boys found a 75' US Flagged Shrimp boat in Bluefields, full of fresh water. They are resourceful!
The miracle might happen. Josh is at Bluefields now, loading the ship to sail north with clean water, food, medicine, buckets and Clorox to purify foul water.A desperate race for lives is on and our small band of heroes has overcome every obstacle so far. One must remember that these are pirate waters they sail into, choked with coral reefs and turbid currents. Still, they have courage, a solid plan and the hand of God.
This is a historic rescue. These boys were flocked by media in Managua as the prepared for this quest. TV will be there in Bluefields for interviews.
Josh and Jason have cameras, dry bags, sound gear, tripods, etc. We'll be able to share this first look into the eye of Category 5 Felix when they return from this rescue.
Josh was in Big Sandy Bay before, and we'll trust his training was right. We slept on the floor of many a hut there and now we can pay back the hospitality.
That is where I stayed in a five stripe hotel; waking up in the morning with five rows of miskito bites on my back from the cracks in the floor boards!
Once they sail, it’s radio silence until the mission is over.
May all their giants prove to be small.
I sent the boys $1,900 today for supplies, but they need fuel…for which they’re working hard with local government and industry. When they return, they will have saved lives, the Region will be documented and the aid needs posted on suboceansafety.com. You could help then. We will need more supplies soon. Don’t worry about the fuel, Josh and Jason will get it somehow in the port of Bluefields, I have no doubt. They are completely unstoppable.
This was all done without money; with only force of will, boldness and vision. The army, Red Cross and multiple aid organizations are still running in circles around Managua. These boys will be the first and perhaps the only group to aid the most severely impacted Miskito Indians of this forsaken coast.
When they get back, they should be Knighted.
Robert Izdepski
www.suboceansafety.com
UPDATE: IZ
The boys found a 75' US Flagged Shrimp boat in Bluefields, full of fresh water. They are resourceful!
The miracle might happen. Josh is at Bluefields now, loading the ship to sail north with clean water, food, medicine, buckets and Clorox to purify foul water.A desperate race for lives is on and our small band of heroes has overcome every obstacle so far. One must remember that these are pirate waters they sail into, choked with coral reefs and turbid currents. Still, they have courage, a solid plan and the hand of God.
This is a historic rescue. These boys were flocked by media in Managua as the prepared for this quest. TV will be there in Bluefields for interviews.
Josh and Jason have cameras, dry bags, sound gear, tripods, etc. We'll be able to share this first look into the eye of Category 5 Felix when they return from this rescue.
Josh was in Big Sandy Bay before, and we'll trust his training was right. We slept on the floor of many a hut there and now we can pay back the hospitality.
That is where I stayed in a five stripe hotel; waking up in the morning with five rows of miskito bites on my back from the cracks in the floor boards!
Once they sail, it’s radio silence until the mission is over.
May all their giants prove to be small.
I sent the boys $1,900 today for supplies, but they need fuel…for which they’re working hard with local government and industry. When they return, they will have saved lives, the Region will be documented and the aid needs posted on suboceansafety.com. You could help then. We will need more supplies soon. Don’t worry about the fuel, Josh and Jason will get it somehow in the port of Bluefields, I have no doubt. They are completely unstoppable.
This was all done without money; with only force of will, boldness and vision. The army, Red Cross and multiple aid organizations are still running in circles around Managua. These boys will be the first and perhaps the only group to aid the most severely impacted Miskito Indians of this forsaken coast.
When they get back, they should be Knighted.
Robert Izdepski
www.suboceansafety.com
Hurricane Felix – Disaster Response
12 hrs. after the Felix disaster:
Consultations and predictions…My job description
The map shows the heavily populated region Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast that took Felix's best hit. Awastara is 26 miles North of Pto. Cabezas and just South of it is a 50' hill where survivors will be praying for water in the heat. All these villages were just above sea level and could not withstand an 18' tidal surge with 30' waves on top.
All the water wells will be fouled for some time unforeseeable. The crops and livestock are gone. The huts are gone. There are only snakes in the trees with the buzzards and steaming heat.
6.56 miles WNW of Kaska is a 60-foot hill of refuge for all these villages. The Miskito will be there, waiting for the fouled waters to recede, digging graves or hanging from trees. In several days the flies will take over.
12,000 people lived in this region. Three days from now there will be much death, 100% dysentery, hundreds of bodies and cholera, if not typhoid.
Only US, British, Dutch or even French naval helicopters could help right now. The people could walk out as it dries, if they had water, but they will be weak.
All who are on these hill tops will likely die.
Press could help if there was video tomorrow. Perhaps someone would see the video of this desperation. Josh (011-505-443-9550) and Jason ( 011-505-477-5286) have HDV with directorial production skills and are in Managua, but have little chance of getting a heliocopter...all the politicians have them for photo ops. in Pto. Cabezas and the price is up 500%.
Cheer up, I'm sure it is just as bad along the Rio Coco. I imagine hundreds of paralyzed divers are dead. I hope that is somehow merciful.
I will continue to send you maps and the high points of refuge and point out obstacles, aids, regional needs, disease hazards, local doctors and whatever you ask, but water is king... I remain willing to consult about logistics or travel anywhere on the Miskito Coast in Nicaragua, or in Honduras, 24 hrs per day. This is a great and silent tragedy; a laisse-faire genocide in the heart of the Miskito Kingdom...home to some of the last free people on earth.
Without a miracle, there is no way to blunt this disaster…
IZ
www.suboceansafety.com
Consultations and predictions…My job description
The map shows the heavily populated region Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast that took Felix's best hit. Awastara is 26 miles North of Pto. Cabezas and just South of it is a 50' hill where survivors will be praying for water in the heat. All these villages were just above sea level and could not withstand an 18' tidal surge with 30' waves on top.
All the water wells will be fouled for some time unforeseeable. The crops and livestock are gone. The huts are gone. There are only snakes in the trees with the buzzards and steaming heat.
6.56 miles WNW of Kaska is a 60-foot hill of refuge for all these villages. The Miskito will be there, waiting for the fouled waters to recede, digging graves or hanging from trees. In several days the flies will take over.
12,000 people lived in this region. Three days from now there will be much death, 100% dysentery, hundreds of bodies and cholera, if not typhoid.
Only US, British, Dutch or even French naval helicopters could help right now. The people could walk out as it dries, if they had water, but they will be weak.
All who are on these hill tops will likely die.
Press could help if there was video tomorrow. Perhaps someone would see the video of this desperation. Josh (011-505-443-9550) and Jason ( 011-505-477-5286) have HDV with directorial production skills and are in Managua, but have little chance of getting a heliocopter...all the politicians have them for photo ops. in Pto. Cabezas and the price is up 500%.
Cheer up, I'm sure it is just as bad along the Rio Coco. I imagine hundreds of paralyzed divers are dead. I hope that is somehow merciful.
I will continue to send you maps and the high points of refuge and point out obstacles, aids, regional needs, disease hazards, local doctors and whatever you ask, but water is king... I remain willing to consult about logistics or travel anywhere on the Miskito Coast in Nicaragua, or in Honduras, 24 hrs per day. This is a great and silent tragedy; a laisse-faire genocide in the heart of the Miskito Kingdom...home to some of the last free people on earth.
Without a miracle, there is no way to blunt this disaster…
IZ
www.suboceansafety.com
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