List of Things Chile Currently Needs: What do we know about the situation in Concepcion?

List of Things Chile Currently Needs:  What do we know about the situation in Concepcion?

"The looting is everywhere," complain residents of Concepcion who are mad over the fact that police did not get to control the crowd.  Ana is one of the Chileans who did not like what she was living.  She wanted the local authorities to stop the looting of markets and supermarkets.  She also wanted the military to bring in enough supplies.  Separated by over 200 miles from her parents who live in Concepcion, Ana scrambled to find their news after the quake hit the country on Feb. 27, 2010.  She had a huge sigh of relief when she found out that her parents were fine.  Just like anybody else, they were shaken but in good health.  They are terrified of being near any building as the aftershocks continue to rattle their nerves.

Eyewitnesses have been reporting that every market and supermarket had been looted in hard-hit Conception on Chile's mainland.  With no electricity and water services, Chileans were left to fend for themselves.  Looters were pillaging gas stations, pharmacies, banks and supermarkets.  The police forces were overwhelmed.  They were shooting water at the looters.  They were doing everything they could to control the situation, but they were outgunned by the large crowd who was caught in a panic rush.  That state of catastrophe pushed President Michele Bachelet to sign a decree giving the military control over security in Concepcion.  The president and her team intervened by announcing that essentials on the shelves of major supermarkets would be given away for free, under the supervision of authorities who were to distribute food and water.  A curfew has also been in effect from 9 P.M. to 6 A.M.  That allows security personnel and emergency forces to be out on the streets to rescue and help those still caught under rubbles.

What Chile Needs Right Now:

President Michele Bachelet said that the country needs field hospitals and temporary bridges, water purification plants and damage assessment experts.  Chile needs rescuers to give a break to those who have been working from Feb. 27, 2010. 

The southern parts of Chile are heavily damaged.  Besides the violent shaking, the quake unleashed monster waves that destroyed coastal settlements.  Those who knew those places can hardly recognize them now.  For example, the coastal areas of Constitucion were wiped out.  Many of the residents ran back to the hills overlooking the ocean.  The fate of most residents of the village of Lloca were sealed.  The attendees of the beachside carnival in that village were caught by the tsunami.  Despite the fear of aftershocks, rescuers and local volunteers are working feverishly to rescue people in Concepcion.  A 15-story building apartment felled on its side, trapping residents on that side.  There are still a lot of residents who are unaccounted for in this 70-unit apartment complex.  No wonder that these residents are furious over the fact that the building collapsed since it was relatively new.  They are mad at Socovil, the company that opened the concrete-and-glass building less than a year ago. 

Furthermore, five people have been reported killed by the tsunami on Robinson Crusoe island off Chile's coast.  The port city of Talcahuano has been almost destroyed by the monster waves. 


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