'Worse than Fallujah'
2005-01-03 12:38
Kandolhudhoo - The island is completely deserted, its homes smashed, power and communications wrecked and its wells contaminated by seawater.
The desolate scene on the remote Maldivian "ghost island" of Kandolhudhoo, evacuated after last week's Asian tsunami disaster, reminds United States Marine Major Max Andrews of war-torn cities in Iraq.
Andrews on Sunday said: "I was in Fallujah last summer and saw the devastation and damage there.
But, that was surgical and aimed at specific targets. Here it's total. Everything is gone."
Andrews is a member of a four-member, military-civilian US team sent to the Maldives to assess the extent of the damage in preparation for American aid.
Accompanied by Maldivian military officers, the team flew by seaplane to Kandolhudhoo in the Raa Atoll, about 200km northwest of the capital, Male.
Evacuation of 3 500 people
He said at least 1 000 US military personnel are expected to be in the Sri Lanka-Maldives area within a week to help with disaster relief and recovery, though the exact numbers and locations haven't been decided yet.
A wave as high as three metres swept completely over Kandolhudhoo, which is less than a kilometre square and, like most of the Maldives' tiny coral islands, only about one metre above sea-level.
The tsunami killed three people and injured about 50 others on Kandolhudhoo, which made its living mainly though fishing and had been one of the area's wealthiest islands.
It smashed boats and single-story coral houses, and caused some buildings' foundations to collapse. The entire population of 3 500 has been evacuated.
On Sunday, a week after the disaster, the island's narrow streets were still littered with debris - masonry, broken glass and household possessions like toys, books, furniture, television sets and clothes.
Fish left stranded by the wave rotted inside some houses.
A few dozen island men picked through the ruins to salvage possessions before returning to emergency lodgings on other islands.
Rebuilding the island
Kandolhudhoo is one of 14 Maldivian islands completely evacuated due to the tsunami.
Although the nationwide death toll stands at a relatively light 80, with 28 listed as missing, officials say the archipelago's low-lying nature means damage will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
A final decision on whether to rebuild and resettle the island hasn't been made yet, but most people from Kandolhudhoo say they don't want to return.
The island already suffered from monsoon flooding, and many islanders feel the scale of the tsunami damage means it's not worth trying to start over.
A government spokesperson said President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom visited Kandolhudhoo on Sunday, telling island representatives the government was prepared to help them resettle on other islands.
- SAPA