Chile Forum

here are real time photos of Chaiten
http://www.aipchile.cl/camara
You then have to click on Chaiten,

The plane from Patagonia Airlines that went down near Palena was found today with 9 survivors. The Pilot died just yesterday. They beat the very bad odds against temps of -10 below zero and snow throughout the weekend.

There are reports on the local news tonight of new major eruptions from the Chaiten Volcano. As we understand a second vent has opened, and there are new quakes and lots of gas being released. We don't have much more than that.

A recent youtube of Chaiten:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnDlC0Rwu9k

This is really, really sad to see.

Vicki

Vicki
Whats going on with you guys? You haven't written about conditions there lately? The ash, the animals, water and your house, how about an update.
Helen

Hey Helen! Well, I got my feelings hurt on the Obama thread so I was just pouting for a while!

Actually, we've been searching for half-way dry wood, hoping for the return of the licensed electrician to hook us up at our house in Sector Azul, and I've been joyfully baking. Below is a rough draft of an article (I shouldn't put it out like this, but it says everything) I am working on about Futa surviving, and how all is going.....the formatting is crappy when I copy on here, but you get the idea!

Vicki

Futa is Alive!

Futaleufu - Open for Business


June 15th. 2008, Father's Day in the United States. In Futaleufu, Chile, so recently buried in

ash and snow, fathers this Sunday walk with their children to Lago Espejo, or sit on benches in

the Plaza del Armas eating ice cream bars. Fluffy dogs roam and chase cars, and the early

winter sun illuminates the snow on the surrounding mountains. The recent volcanic eruption is

an odd episode in an almost 80-year old history of this place the locals claim was "painted by

God". And God still smiles on Futaleufu.

May 2nd dawned blue, and chilly in th Futa Valley. But by 9:00 am, the world turned dark and

uncertain as Volcan Chaiten bellowed and belched horrific amounts of ash. For ten days ash

fell, and life was uncertain for domestic and farm animals, people evacuated. The reports were

dooming, and gloomy. Then rain fell, then snow. As I plodded through the disaster that faced

Futaleufu, I sensed, despite all odds, that somehow, some way, this would pass. Yes, people

with small children, elderly folks and others left, who could blame them. But, many stayed.

And they took care of Futa. And the water was restored, and the electric stayed on. And the

animals were fed, and the streets were cleared, and they kept life going in Futaleufu. That's

what this little-known place is all about.


The Chaiten volcano, located less than ten kilometers from the town of Chaiten did not fare so well. The town was

completely and safely evacuated early in May. Ash and debris-swollen rivers flooded the town

causing devastating damage; some homes and businesses washing to the sea, meters of mud filling

houses and burying automobiles. The volcano continues to be active and no reasonable

predictions can be made for people to return to their town, if ever. It is a tragic blow for

the incredible people who lived and worked on the slopes and shore of that coastal area for

generations.

But here in Futalefu, some 80 kilometers "as the crow flies" from Chaiten, the volcano proved only an annoyance and temporary disruption. It is one and one-half months since the eruption. The rivers are clearing. The ash is being removed. Sector Azul was almost unaffected. Noreste is recovering and doing well. The evergreens are green, sheep graze, still getting fat. The cattle that were not sold, or removed are healthy and content. Rio Azul, is azul, the Rio Futa is awesome in it's almost other-wordly way, the Espolon is lazy and lovely though still carrying significant amounts of ash. There are no massive, or even light fish-kills reported on any river. The roads are graded.


Today I hung laundry outside in a chilly, sunny wind. And as I stood with several damp towels

on my shoulder reaching to the line, I spied a Condor drifting on a wind current high above,

and watched it for twenty minutes as it hung on the blue dome of sky. Flocks of endangered

parrots screeched in the bare apple trees across the street, and an owl menaced in the back

yard. Futa is alive.

It would be disappointing if travelers crossed Futa off their list of Chilean destinations

because of the volcano erupting. It is far less devastating than most would gather given the

reports. The rivers are not harmed for rafting. The ashfall has not been harmful to the fish,

so we expect the same awesome fishing this coming season. Hiking, and biking, and the usual

hospitality of Futaleufu is not dimished, in fact, the people of Futa would love your visit,

and the chance to share with you how they weathered a volcanic eruption.

Awesome!

A good, literate post as usual, Vicki. I'm glad that you showed it to us. Have you thought of posting it elsewhere, or of sending it to a newspaper or two in the States?

I must add, though, were it not for this forum and friends and family in Chile, I might not have heard a word about Chaiten, town or volcano. Surprisingly, there was (at least, here in the northeastern States) almost no reporting of the events.

It is hard to get news about the U.S. in the U.S., let alone the rest of the world these days.

Sunday morning front page of the El Mercurio are photos of the rescue of the cars and trucks from Chaiten. I believe they got around 30 out of the ash.

Goverment is saying the area is uninhabitable for 2 years. Which is more or less the same as saying don't bother ever coming back. Most of the town will have moved on by then to greener pastures. Much of Chaiten's economy was based on government offices. The town will basically move to where the central authorities decides to move those offices.

We are going to post vicki's article on allsouthernchile.com when ready, and we are retooling futaleufuchile.org to be a new tourism portal for the area. It will get posted there also.

Charles,

I thought that Chaiten had a decent-sized seafood fleet, but then I didn't really look into it much. I do know that in December they had completed a very nice waterfront restaurant co-op and artisan shop. They had also re-vamped several blocks of business fronts and sidewalks. The first couple of streets, starting where El Refugio is/was was being tidied up and new little eco-tourist places were springing up (a welcome/info center for Pumalin Park, fly shops). Nick LaPenna - have you heard from him or of him? Greg and I had planned to take a glacier-trekking tour with him when we finished settling in our place. He was one of those "one-stop" shops in Chaiten for info, fishing, hiking, glacier trekking, horseback riding, transportation and advice.

A friend sent me an article by Jim Lepine (the famous fisherman) who lives in this area and he also has a very positive outlook for the up-coming fishing season. It is also my opinion/observation that the people of Futa have high expectations of their government, yet at the same time, expect nothing...if that makes any sense. All in all, I thought the response was incredible in light of the logistics of getting here. I have a great amount of respect for Bachelet for actually walking around here in her rubber boots and field jacket, driving here, staying here, and working with Argentina (during a shaky time for them) in opening up the border to get hay, water and other supplies in and people out.

The lingering problems right now are the ash which wheel barrow by wheel barrow are being shoveled up and scooped into dump trucks, and dry fuel wood. I am just now seeing an increase in some items (BEER, cheese, chicken, etc) at some stores, but not all. This may be due to rising transportation costs, or "opportunity". One little store is charging 500 pesos more for a six-pack of cerveza and appeared to be selling produce that I suspect came from the free market at the community building. That bugged me somewhat, but I simply spread my business out elsewhere. It appears others took the same action.

It was a great comfort and diversion - this forum, and the volcanism blog. The almost daily welfare calls from Charles and Zandra (WHAT ARE YOU GUYS STILL DOING IN FUTA!!!???) and them helping reassure my mother that we were not burned up in a massive lava flow - also was a great comfort. The forum is a fun, spirited and interesting community. Thanks to all.

Vicki AND GREG

An informative and important update on the volcano from the volcanism blog by Dr. Ralph Harrington....

http://volcanism.wordpress.com/?s=chait ... tton=go%21

Well, I feel it is my duty to get out my fly rod and investigate in each and every trout in the region this year.

We are seriously looking in to the possibility of commissioning a private study of the short and long term impact on the fishery. It is one of those things the government hardly does ever (unless there are salmon), and in this situation would likely not do at all. It is just to important all they way around.

On other fronts, we are happy to announce that as of today we have added an English speaking vet to our office staff. First thing we have him assigned to do is get in touch with the vet in Futa and start coordinating the vaccine shipment to Futa. He has a license and can order the rabies vaccines and other restricted things the vet in Futa needs.

We really did not intend to hire a vet, but one just happened to apply for another position we where interviewing for last week. I would say about 80% of our clients have some sort of vet needs, so it fits well in to what we do (in a very strange sort of way). With a little luck we might be able to scrape together some money to ship him down to Futa on a field trip at least a couple times a year. Once a month would be ideal, if all goes well.

The USGS is partnering with Chile to build volcano monitoring system across Chile.

Announcement:
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1966

Evil Evil Evil Big bad America!
Are we going to stand for this?


Sorry I just can't resist !
bad Helen! bad bad bad