Day 13

Today we traveled to Chillan and got some supplies.  Tomorrow we plan to head back to Cauquenes, drop off supplies, and head to the coast to do survey.  Communication is still spotty over there so we may be out of touch a few days.  I'll update if I am able.

Day 11

Today we traveled north to Cauquenes to see how the church fared.  There were three 6 plus earthquakes during the last hour of driving.  It was a surprise to us because we were driving on a bumpy road and never felt a thing. 

The destruction we saw today was immense:  ceramic roof tiles in piles of rubble, adobe bricks that became dirt and straw again, crooked, cracked, and crumpled walls everywhere.  Pastor took us to the house where of one of the members lived.  It is a miracle he escaped.  All that is left is a pile of rubble.

We visited a family that lives out in the country a few miles from town.  Their house looked like it survived from the outside.  But inside it was obvious that it was about to fall apart.  The whole family is living in a pole barn with a dirt floor where they store their truck.  It is open so they were closing it in to use as a house.  A tour of their home was especially unnerving after the three quakes a few hours earlier.  Their case was very typical; houses that look fine from the outside are cracked and weakened inside.  A small tremor could bring them down.

We looked at 3 towns in all, the first is about 40% destroyed, Cauquenes (60k population) is 50%-70% uninhabitable, and the small town of Coronel (2500 pop) is 98% uninhabitable.  Many buildings that are still standing will have to be torn down.

We are going to try to raise some funds to buy tarps or plastic so people will have something to put over them.  Winter is coming on quickly and cold and rain is on the way.  We are very concerned for the conditions that many thousands of people find themselves in.

Day 10

It's been 10 days since Rhonda and I left Aysen to come to Concepcion.  We have no idea as to when we'll return, we'll just see how things develop.  We have to weigh the need and what resources we have to work with.

Yesterday the team we picked up in Bariloche left to return to the US.  Sunday I  went to the airport here (now able to receive a few flights) and picked up missionary Rick Ellis.  He was home for deputation and returned for a few weeks to help with this disaster.

Folks have been asking about our living conditions, I guess I ought to add a little about that.  When we arrived a lady in Rick's church let us stay in an apartment building she has.  We were able to use a nice apartment on the 6th floor and it did have electric and even internet!  We didn't have an  elevator, water, or gas but since we came prepared to camp if needed it wasn't all that bad.  Yesterday we moved into Rick's house where we have lights and maybe gas.  We have been able to eat.  Lots of starch and little protein but have been making it ok.  We needed to lose a little weight anyway!

The food situation continues to be difficult for many many people.  Pastor Reuben told us yesterday that many families in his area are down to one meal a day.  It is good to be able to help by giving them some food and supplies!

One story that stands out about food was on Friday.  We came into town and drove up to Chiguyante to visit pastor Victor (age 72).  We were surprised to see him standing at his gate and he looked very surprised to see a 4runner and pickup loaded with supplies pull up as well.  A little later he told us what was going on.  That day they had completely run out of food and his wife had sent him out to look for something to eat.  With tears in his eyes he told us he had looked and  had been unable to find anything and had just returned home empty handed when we pulled up.  More than once we've visited a pastor and been told that they had just ran out of food.

Today we are supposed to get another truck in and we'll deliver it.  I don't know where we'll get supplies after today.

Update

More long days.  Seems we're lucky to get to bed before midnight.
Traffic has become horrible.  Gas is now easier to get and it seems everyone is out and trying to get things done before curfew.  Add some bad bottlenecks on the roads, no traffic police, and a bunch of non-functioning traffic signals and you have a recipe for traffic chaos.
We've seen a lot of destruction these last 5 days but nothing has compared to what we witnessed yesterday in the town of Dichato.  The town is closer to the epicenter than Concepcion and the quake was followed by a large tsunami.  Locals told us it reached 20 meters high.  I'll enclose some photos but they just don't do justice to the smell, desperation, silence, and shock that we witnessed there.

On the beach.  All that is left of this house is part of the roof with an antenna still attached.

Houses without a good foundation were simply swept away.

A view down what was a street.

Looking down another street.

There are literally houses sitting on houses.

Many of the fishing boats were sunk or ruined.

This large fishing boat ended up close to 2 miles from the sea.

Concepcion moved 10 feet

Got this from CNN today:
The magnitude-8.8 earthquake that rocked the west coast of Chile last month was violent enough to move the city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west and the capital, Santiago, about 11 inches to the west-southwest...


I well believe this after seeing the damage in the area.  Above is a photo I took today of a railroad track we crossed on the way to deliver food to a church in Hualqui.

Sunday

I didn't get to make a post yesterday, we left early and got in late exhausted.  We drove down the the town of Arauco to visit the churches there.  Both churches have damage and one may have to have a whole wall replaced.  We then drove to Lota and returned to visit 3 more churches in Concepcion.  We left food and supplies in all 5 places.  We are constantly touched by the gratefulness of the people we are able to help.  I'll enclose some pictures to help give you an idea of what we saw.

Driving can be quite a challenge, we had to carefully navigate our way through this broken area.

This section of road had fallen in near Lota.  Note the car at the bottom.

Many people are staying where they can.  We were at one place where 40 people were sharing one house, in this photo 10 families are staying at the church.  They made a small oven (on left) and are baking bread.

In Arauco most of the population is living in the hills.  Fear of more tsunamis has made them prefer to live in what shelters they can find or make than live in the insecurity of their homes.  We went to one camp where over 2000 people were living.

At each church we try to leave what food and supplies we have.  We will need to get much more and are hoping enough funds come in to enable us to meed this tremendous need.

Water continues to be a problem.  People line up to get what water they can, be it a fire hydrant that still has a little, an old well, or whatever.  We handed out what filters we had and hope to get some more in as soon as we are able

One thing has been constant, people have been very grateful for the help they've received!  

Many of the lines for gas have been over a mile long.  Yesterday we were trying to get back to where we keep supplies and encountered the worst traffic jam I've ever seen.  Trying to navigate around and through that was near nightmarish.  People were angry, frustrated, and even fighting.  We made it past one section and were cutting around back when I spotted a gas station with one car at the pump.  I thought it was worth a try and pulled up.  I asked the attendant if they had gas and he told me yes and we could get as much as we wanted!  We filled both the car and truck in just minutes!  Not one block from there was another station with a line at least a half mile long and hundreds and hundreds of motorists in a huge traffic jam.

Friday

Today we went around visiting more churches and families.  We found one home where over 40 people were living.  We went to Talcahuano to see if and when containers of help might be able to arrive.
While we were out it was obvious that life was totally changed for most people here.  Driving was chaotic with people walking, on bikes, driving, army, police, fire trucks and ambulances all sharing very rough roads with very few traffic lights working.  We also saw lines.  Lines everywhere, lines for water, for food, and like the one below for gas.  This line stretched for close to a mile.  People are spending their day in a line to get something they need.

Not all houses and buildings are damaged but many are to one degree or another.  Some look fine from the outside and are torn up inside.  Some have cosmetic damage and others have to be abandoned at once.  The church we visited in Talcahuano has cracks and one wall leaning.  We will have to get an engineer to tell us if it can be saved or not.  The photo below is of a street we walked down to get to city hall.  City hall in Talcahuano had to be abandoned at once.

We won't know when we can get a container in for a couple days.  There are 2 ports here, one is shut down for a long time and they are checking the other.  We will try to get supplies from the US to this port as soon as it looks like the port will be usable.  The photo below is of the bay and you can see the tsunami damage, boats on dry land, containers in the water, one fishing boat sunk.  We saw a quite a number of boats and large ships on dry land and capsized in the water.

It does look like we will need to raise some money to continue helping out here.  The need is great and help is urgently needed now and will be needed for some time to come.  If you'd like to help please contact me or use the 'donation' link on the right of the page.

Steve

Concepcion

We finally arrived in Concepcion after 4 days of travel.  We did have to take some long detours due to bridges being down.  The road was messed up in places and there are lots of small rock and land slides along the sides of the roads.
In Temuco we met up with pastor Juan Mella and we went to a store and spend a couple thousand dollars on food and supplies to take in with us.  We packed both vehicles and made it to Concepcion in the late afternoon.
Once here we met with pastor Pedro Contreras and we waited in a line at the military base for over an hour but managed to get a pass so we could be out after curfew which is from 6PM to noon.
We then went to the town of Chiguayante.  The pastor and family and parsonage are fine.  The church building has suffered serious damage.  They are exists a real possibility that it will have to be demolished.  Next we went to a church in central Concepcion.  Again, the pastoral family is fine and the church building came through in good shape.  The parsonage is a total loss and we were surprised that no one died there.
We are experiencing numerous strong aftershocks, the last being a few minutes ago that was 6.8 on Richter.
I'm surprised that we still have lights and internet!
I'll post more as I'm able

Update

First we want you to know how much we appreciate your prayers and support.  I believe it has already made a big difference.
We are fine and in Temuco right now.  After 2 days of driving we made it to Bariloche, Argentina and picked up fellow missionary Mike Files and 2 members of Convoy of Hope.  We then crossed the Andes and made it to Temuco yesterday evening.
This morning we plan on spending several thousand dollars to buy food and supplies to bring in with us.
So far we haven't seen all that much damage other than some overpasses down and a little road damage.  Temuco has most of it's power back as well.
Fuel might be a problem, gas stations are rationing what they have and many are out completely.
I'll post this right now and add more if I am able.
Steve

Travel

After 4 trips to the port this morning I found out the ferry is completly full.  Looks like we will have to make the long drive through Argentina.
We might be out of touch for a while, I'll do an update when I can.

Update

Looks like the ferry loads tomorrow night at midnight. We should arrive in Puerto Montt 8 am Wed and could be in Osorno around noon. Ferry will charge us some $300 for the car and charges vary for us. Depends on what's available and how much we want to spend. Anything from a bus type seat to a small room with actual bunks. We will spend 2 nights on the boat if we go that route.

Update

as I write this they are sacking the supermarkets in Concepcion. There will be little to no food or supplies when we arrive.

 

Travel

Rhonda and I have been asked to travel to Concepcion (near the epicenter) and take a team from Convoy of Hope.  We will see if we can take the ferry or have to drive through Argentina to get there.

Update

La alcaldesa de Concepción dice que el mayor problema que enfrenta la ciudad es el desabastecimiento que hay en las casas, ya que al ser fin de mes la gente no tenía alimentos y los supermercados están cerrados. Incluso dijo que si la situación no se soluciona a la brevedad podría haber un estallido social. Afirma que ...desde Santiago no ha llegado ayuda, lo que calificó como una vergüenza,

The mayor of Concepcion says the major problem facing the city is shortages in the homes.  Since it is the end of the month most homes were already low on food and now supermarkets are closed.  She added that if the situation isn't resolved quickly there could be serious social problems.  She assures that no help has arrived from Santiago which is shameful. 

Update

Please know that Rhonda and I are fine.  The only thing that happened here was that we lost electricity for a couple hours and internet and phone service has been off and on.  I do expect some interruption in supplies to our area so I went to the gas station and filled up the car and a 40 gal. barrel.  The government was saying not to do that as there was plenty of gas but I went anyway.  About 2 hours later we hear they are now rationing gas.
We are looking at the possibility of traveling north to help out in the affected area if we are needed.  I'll try to keep you posted.

Earthquake

3:30 AM today Chile experienced a major earthquake.  They are talking of 8.5 on the Richter that lasted some 2 minutes.  Damage is extensive and hundreds of thousands homeless.  I will try to keep posting information as I can.  In the meantime here's a link to look at some photos:
http://www.fotos.emol.com/?G_ID=13635#

The Throne

Thought you might like the bathroom in our hotel room in Punta Arenas.

Baptism Aysén

Last week the church here in Puerto Aysén had a baptism.  We all went up the canyon about 25 miles from town and spend the day in fellowship and fun.  Here's some photos I took to help you get an idea of how our day went: