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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 08:07am PT
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Thanks climbski. I saw that. Most of my friends are literate now so we have communicated by email or Facebook so the voice lines would be open for the many in the country who can not read or write. Facebook put up a site where people can check in that was very helpful.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 08:22am PT
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The New York Times which has a good sense of the realities of Nepal has been pretty forthcoming with its own criticism of the government. Here's one quote.
"The government has been barely functional for more than a decade, with politicians of just about every stripe fighting over the scraps of the increasingly desperate economy....the resulting Constituent Assembly spent four years trying to write a constitution without success.
Nepal's people had already become exhausted with the political paralysis but those feelings could turn explosive if relief and rescue efforts fail in the coming weeks. The fear of just such an outcome could spur an intense international relief effort as an odd collection of countries including China, India and the United States were already cooperating on pushing Nepal's politicians toward a compromise."
Meanwhile the thin layer of middle class professionals in the country have been working themselves to exhaustion. Nobody can fault the police, the army or the medical professions and certainly not the helicopter pilots.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Apr 28, 2015 - 11:22am PT
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On Monday, I was delighted to see that my company had a giving campaign for this tragedy and increased the company matching from 50% to 100%. I selected a couple of worthy charities, as did many in the office.
Rescue is a tough job in a first world country with largely intact infrastructure with fairly competent people. This certainly is an overwhelming event for them.
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Gorgeous George
Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
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Apr 28, 2015 - 12:34pm PT
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An incompetent, corrupt government, inexperienced and unprepared for major disasters, and the extent of the damage and carnage to the local populace is so great that they are overwhelmed and unable to act responsibly, efficiently, and effectively.
The result is people are trying to flee in any way possible, jamming roads and adding to the confusion and chaos.
Disaster tourists flying in to gawk at the scene, and the weather is worsening.
Is that what they mean by a "clusterf*#k?"
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 01:24pm PT
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The good news is that the Indian army has brought in heavy equipment and engineers who have cleared all the major roads into and out of Kathmandu to facilitate relief efforts and are flying a huge number of sorties into the isolated mountains to rescue the injured. So far, India has put forth the largest and most effective effort. Of course they have the shortest supply lines also.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Apr 28, 2015 - 02:09pm PT
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Thanks for all your comments, Jan. I'm not sure what that above comment meant(not from you) about now we see why they are 3rd and 4th world countries. I do know that greed and corruption are very prevalent in even the richest financially well off and techno savy countries. They just hide it better. I'm not being cynical...it's just the truth.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Apr 28, 2015 - 03:04pm PT
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After a total cardiac arrest on a bluebird day, with cellphones and personal locator beacon, 5 fully competent comrades, CalStar and CHP helicopters, Truckee SAR and 2 helicopter rides. It took 2 1/2 hours to get me from 5 miles behind Truckee to a hospital in Reno. A total of 13 rescuers. About 30 miles.
To me it seemed like only an hour.
4 hours mobilization delay amid a national catastrophe in Nepal, meh!!
Doesn't sound too bad to me.
On the other hand they're not having too many problems helicoptering uninjured climbers and trekkers from EBC to Lukla to KTM.
Imagine the FUSS if poor Johnny and Mathilda were stuck at EBC for a week while those choppers were evacuating Nepalis from devastated villages. The darlings might miss their scheduled flights home!!!
Sometimes life just ain't fair!!
or
she who has the money calls the shots.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 03:26pm PT
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And the Nepalese government does realize that a year down the road when most of the emergency aid has run off after the next disaster, it will be climbers and trekkers who come back to Nepal again and again and keep the mountain economy going.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 04:36pm PT
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I'm trying to think of what to write to a friend I first met back in 1974 when he was a Peace Corps volunteer and I was doing research for my dissertation. He spent 3 years in a high altitude village called Langtang which later became a national park. Yesterday late we all learned that the entire village of 300 people has been completely buried by a huge avalanche a couple of miles wide. Locals and tourists are stranded both above and below the impassable landslide and are being flown out by the Indian Army.
I was so relieved to find out that all my friends and villagers had survived and then learned of this sorrow. It's overwhelming, more for some than others.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Apr 28, 2015 - 04:47pm PT
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Langtang gone
So many villages gone.
So many villages destroyed that the outside world doesn't even know about yet.
We've heard nothing from the Annapurna region yet it is as near to the epicenter as KTM.
Somewhere yesterday I saw a sort of shaking intensity map. It looked as if the intensity dropped much more rapidly to the west than to the east. The epicenter was roughly midway between Pokhara and KTM
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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Apr 28, 2015 - 06:38pm PT
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I'm not sure what that above comment meant(not from you) about now we see why they are 3rd and 4th world countries.
If you are referring to my comment about there being a reasons for 3rd + 4th world countries I was responding to and early line of posting about the seemingly ineptitude of the local gov. to assist in a timely manner the overwhelming needs of the local people.
Some posters couldn't or didn't seem to understand the challenges that are faced in these types of events. The fact that Nepal in the best of times struggles daily in their fight for basic needs should be taken into account. That it is no wonder there is an extremely slow and frustratingly time lag currently going on especially as systems need to be set up and are not automatically triggered as they would be in say...the USA, or Germany (though one only needs to look back at Katrina for even that).
If you've been to any 3rd or 4th world countries you'd know what I'm talking about.
I have the highest sympathy for all those folks and remain connected to the process (from this end) of helping get the much needed supplies in to those in need.
Hope that is clearer.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Apr 28, 2015 - 07:59pm PT
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Thanks Delhi Dog, I thought you were referring to the corruption and political scamming in those countries. I agree with you and appreciate your comments on ST.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 08:17pm PT
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By the way, the next day after all those European teams waited at the airport with their sniffer dogs for transportation while Nepalese lay under bricks and concrete with every hour important to their survival, our American ambassador met the Fairfax County Virginia rescue team on the runway with our own transport and they were working an hour after arrival.
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CCT
Trad climber
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Apr 29, 2015 - 12:22am PT
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Then your comment yesterday was right. The foreign teams heard about the delays and got their embassies involved.
Corruption, incompetence, or logistical difficulties. A little of all three, I'm guessing.
This must be really hard for you, Jan. Thanks for keeping us all informed. Now I'm off the MSF to make a donation....
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 29, 2015 - 09:21am PT
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(Reuters) - Nepali villagers blocked trucks carrying supplies for earthquake victims on Wednesday, demanding the government do more to help after last week's disaster left more than 5,000 people dead and tens of thousands homeless and short of food and water.
In the capital Kathmandu, about 200 people protested outside parliament, asking for more buses to go to their homes in remote parts of the Himalayan nation and to hasten the distribution of aid that has flooded into the country but been slow to reach those in need.
In Sangachowk village in one of the worst-hit districts, about three hours by road from the capital, scores of angry villagers blocked the road with tires.
They stopped two trucks headed for the district capital with rice, noodles and biscuits. Later they blocked a convoy of three army trucks with relief supplies, leading to a tense standoff with armed soldiers.
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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Apr 29, 2015 - 09:28am PT
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With monsoon coming on in 4 weeks or so full strength, those poor people are really in a fix.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Apr 29, 2015 - 11:53am PT
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I've got tears in my eyes, Jan. Can imagine being buried under rubble, trying to hang on and not give up hope.....and the very trained teams that could save a life are being detained. I feel so helpless sitting here. I continue to pray for miracles for individuals, villages and a new determination from everyone to sort out priorities and work together.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Apr 29, 2015 - 12:00pm PT
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Keeping them in our prayers and hoping our small donation will help.
The sad reality is whether or not a country is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th world, when a major natural disaster hits no country is properly prepried nor can it quickly respond to all those in need.
It seems especially cruel when those who already have so little and struggle so hard just to survive loose everything.
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