It is sad to learn that Palu, a city in Indonesia, was hit with a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a 20-foot tsunami after that on Sep. 28. According to ABC News, the death toll has risen to 1,558, and it is expected to rise again. From this tragic event, we see the international communities come together, as we see many international emergency teams, such as french emergency rescue team presented at the site to search for any possible life signal under debris. More importantly, we see the local communities come together. While waiting for the government to response and watching emergency teams to dig up debris to find any survivors, the survivors of the disaster helped each other, and share the limited resources with other survivors.
Community is the key for the survivors. Unfortunately, the destructive earthquake and tsunami are just the day one for the survivors. They have to face the cruel reality of finding resources and critical information about the government action and the disaster related information. Another factor to consider about the survivors is the mental health influenced by the tremendous amount of stress, frustration, and desperation. Some just lost their houses, other might lose their entire family. The sadness and desperation may lead to a serious psychological disorder, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In this event, it is crucial to have trained volunteers to find them and provide emotional assistance and support. There has to be a platform, such as OneArc, to empower the community and volunteer organizations with information and access to different supports such as medical resources and volunteer assistance. OneArc is there to help the survivors to get through the toughest time in their lives with medical support and assistance request services, instead of waiting for the government to take time to react.