Posted on 12/30/2004 7:51:01 AM PST by jazzo
MALE (AFP) - At least 42 islands in the tourist paradise of the Maldives were flattened with 117 people killed and missing after tsunamis raved the low-lying atoll nation, the president said.
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said 75 people were killed while another 42 were confirmed missing in Sunday's devastating tidal waves that caused havoc in his nation of 1,192 coral islands.
"We were not in any way prepared to deal with this disaster," Gayoom told a special session of the national parliament. The toll could be higher as the authorities re-establish contact with far flung islands, he said on Thursday.
"Maldives may be able to build a new life from scratch with financial assistance, but dealing with the widespread personal tragedy and despair would not be easy," he said.
The tragedy struck the atoll nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims which is already facing the prospect of extinction from sea level rise caused by global warming. Gayoom had warned that a one-meter (three foot four inch) rise in sea levels could submerge his country.
When walls of water washed over the Maldives, the nation lost all the infrastructure on 13 of its 202 inhabited islands while another 29 of the country's 85 resort islands suffered similar damage.
Each island is a single resort hotel with the geographical formation allowing the country to keep foreigners and the local Sunni Muslim population separate except in the one square mile capital island Male.
Foreigners are not allowed to overnight on islands inhabited by Maldivians and special permission is required to visit them.
Gayoom, 67, who is Asia's longest serving president in power since 1978, has already declared an emergency and put off parliamentary elections that were due Friday.
Voting has been re-scheduled for January 22, but officials said even that could be put off again as the country struggled to rebuild itself amid initial estimates that the damage was in excess of 1.5 billion dollars.
Gayoom said 9,000 people had been evacuated from damaged islands while another 12,000 were made homeless across the archipelago.
"There are shortcomings in the relief operations," he admitted but urged all Maldivians to unite in the face of the worst disaster to hit the nation and said they were also getting international help.
Officials said a total of six foreigners, three Britons, two Sri Lankans and one Indian were among those confirmed killed.
The Maldives was getting a shipment of drinking water from Britain Thursday, officials said.
Scottish Water was sending thousands of bottles in an aircraft that was flying in to pick up stranded tourists.
Can you purge idiots like this? I think it stains the name of FR to have this type of crap posted that could very well be from a troll signup trying to make the site look bad by posting this garbage.
I hope you are being sarcastic.
Enivronmentalist fearmongering nonsense.
The most credible reports on sea level rise state that we will not know for another 30 years whether or not sea levels are rising - at which time we will statistically be able to discern the relationship between sea level and local land levels.
OTOH - recent reports have noted that increases in atmospheric CO2 and warmer waters have accelerated the growth of coral.
With the loss of so many islands, it's going to be a difficult challenge to keep tourism healthy and their citizens content.
All this global cooling is a result of global warming. Didn't you know? LoL!
Hopefully a few more big waves will sweep them to Muhammad's brothel in the afterlife.
So the tourists are segregated from the locals who happen to be Sunni Muslims? The offendi can bring their filthy money to support the unwashed masses of Allah, but they dare not step foot onto the turf of the Religion of Peace - heads would roll.
When politicos tell us that the majority of Muslims in the world are benign to us personally or to our culture, remember this article. The Koran, Hadith and the Prophet order the followers of Islam to slay or convert the infidel...
I guess that means I can go out at low tide and claim a sand bar as my own "country".
bump
I agree.
All the pictures I've seen of the Maldives look great.
A truly peaceful, almost crime-free country. The peace and quiet on these islands must be great.
I wish they were closer to the US.
The tragedy struck the atoll nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims<<
I hate to feel this way, but, looks like some definate good came out of this tsunami.
I have been appalled at just how little I knew about that area! I've been trying to catch up!
It's rampant all over the board. I see lots of new names with less-then three month old sign-up dates. Most will leave on their own when their Christmas vacation is over and/or when the free 90 days of AOL on their new computer runs out.
Like Patton, it is only for me to know when I am acting. ;-)
LOL and of couarse what do you need after dancing all nite while doing esctasy? WATER.
Yes, it did. My daughter's bedroom is decorated in beach scene posters and dolphin pics. The beach scene posters are incredibly beautiful and nearly all were photographed in the Maldives.
Oh the other hand, the Tahiti pics in her room are equally as beautiful, maybe more so.
Sci-Fi...get a life lefties!!!
... Midway Atoll was a naval base under the juristiction of Pacific Division, Naval Facilities Engineering command (PACNAVFACENGCOM).
The Department of the Navy (DoN) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on May 22, 1996, concerning the transfer of NAF Midway to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The Executive Order transferring legal enforcment authority to the USFWS was signed on October 31, 1996. The USFWS assumed custody of Midway Island when the transfer of MOU was signed, but operation of Midway did not change until the current Navy Base Operating Services (BOS) contract was completed on June 30, 1997, and the Navy left Midway.
Midway Atoll, formerly known as Naval Air Facility (NAF), Midway, is located 1,100 miles northwest of Oahu, Hawaii at the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago but is not part of the state of Hawaii. Midway Atoll consists of two main islands, Sand and Eastern, with several smaller islets. The operational facilities were located on Sand Island, which has an area of 1,201 acres. Eastern Island comprises 334 acres and has been uninhabited since 1970, although it was used extensively by the Navy prior to 1970.
...In 1999, in recognition of the atoll’s historical significance, Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to develop Midway as a National Memorial and establish a preservation program for its historic military buildings and gun emplacements. This was to include interpretative displays and promotion of tourist visits.
Midway was closed to visitors in January, 2002. The abundant wildlife, sparkling white beaches and historical sites were just beginning to attract significant numbers of tourists when the USFWS closed the island to visitors. “The Fish and Wildlife Service appears to be doing a good job of protecting the atoll’s wildlife, but it is failing in its responsibility to develop the island as a National Memorial.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
