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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">'Quite some time' after the Solomon Islands' earthquake, Savina was still waiting for information<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Pacific Beat / <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">By Prianka Srinivasan and Melissa Maykin<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Posted 19h ago19 hours ago<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">A Solomon Islands woman sitting in a bright cafe raising her right arm in solidarity expression
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Advocate Savina Nongebatu says people with disabilities are often left behind. (Facebook: Pacific Women Lead)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">When a powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake rocked Solomon Islands on Tuesday, sending items "flying around the house", Honiara woman Savina Nongebatu was desperate to find out if she was in danger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Key points:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Disability advocate Savina Nongebatu says schools used as shelters in Solomon Islands are not accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">She says emergency alerts need to be sent quicker
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">The magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Guadalcanal on Tuesday<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">But sometime later, Ms Nongebatu, who uses a wheelchair, was still in the dark about what was happening.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"Yesterday was quite disappointing for me as I was waiting for some information, and it didn't come until quite sometime later," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"People in the village were panicking, they were running – they tend to leave those with disabilities behind, not always by choice but because of their panicked state."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">The first quake hit just off the south-west coast at 1pm local time according to the US Geological Survey, triggering a tsunami warning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">The second quake, with a magnitude of 6.0, was recorded nearby 30 minutes later.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service later said there was no tsunami threat, but warned about unusual sea currents on the coast.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">According to reports, the quake damaged churches, houses and led to landslides in the north-west.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">But there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">When schools become shelters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Ms Nongebatu advocates for people with disabilities in Solomon Islands and said it was often hard to get appropriate assistance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"It has always been difficult for people with disabilities to access services," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"To put it plainly, Honiara doesn't have a shelter so usually when we have disasters like this, schools become a place for shelter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"Most of these schools are not accessible for people like me who use wheelchairs, and my friends who are blind and deaf."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Ms Nongebatu said she wanted to see improvements in communications during emergencies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"It would have been great to get text messages sent as soon as disaster hits, because people with disabilities have phones, their families with phones can tell them there has been an earthquake and to
evacuate," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">a car with its windscreen broken and bonnet bust up from fallen masonry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">A car damaged by falling masonry from a building in Honiara.(Supplied: Adilah Dolaiano)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"Especially for people with disabilities, we need assistance — if not from our families, then from a service provider."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service, which sends alerts on behalf of the government, has been contacted for comment.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Ms Nongebatu said Tuesday's earthquake was so powerful it reminded her of a week-long series of earthquakes that rattled Guadalcanal in 1977, when she was just a young girl.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"I was at home [yesterday] … my TV screen fell on the floor and bits of pieces of things went flying around the house," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">"It was a really scary moment for all of us."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial">Source: <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-23/calls-for-better-support-after-solomon-islands-earthquake/101687320">
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-23/calls-for-better-support-after-solomon-islands-earthquake/101687320</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Congenial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Vinaka and Kind Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Shahil Chand</span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D"> <b>| IT Officer</b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Pacific Disability Forum | Ground Floor, Kadavu House, Victoria Parade<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">GPO Box 18458 Suva, Fiji<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Phone (landline): (+679) 7730200, 3312008<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Phone (mobile): (+679) 8990128 | Fax: (+679) 3310469<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Website: </span><span style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black"><a href="http://www.pacificdisability.org/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color:#954F72">www.pacificdisability.org</span></a></span><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white">
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:#1F497D">Organisation in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Commission since 2012.</span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-family:"Amasis MT Pro",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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