A TEAM of volunteers from Chilmark-based Team Rubicon UK are on the ground helping communities devastated by a tsunami in Indonesia.

On Saturday, December 22, a landslip from the Anak Krakatau volcano eruption sent two waves up to 5m high surging into the Sunda Strait, killing at least 400 and wrecking hundreds of communities on the coastlines of western Java and south Sumatra.

A team of five volunteers put their Christmas plans on hold, flying out to Jakarta on Christmas Day.

They are now in the Sumur region of southern Sumatra, working as part of ACT for Humanity’s recovery operation.

Paul Taylor who is leading the team said: “Working with ACT, we are now identifying where the people are with the most need – those large concentrations of displaced people– and we will provide them with the critical asset that is clean water.”

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Team Rubicon has been working with authorities and local NGOs in the region since the Lombok earthquake in August 2018, providing drone damage assessments and specialist equipment to provide clean, safe water to thousands of people. Its most recent operation, in response to the Palu earthquake and tsunami on the island of Sulawesi, only concluded on December 14.

Volunteers have also been using drones to help assess the damage to the area.

“We will use our drone team to pilot the drone and then most importantly once it comes back in it is then the task of sitting on the laptop and turning that footage that has been captured by the drone into information and intelligence by analysis,” added Paul.

“From an aerial perspective it is just much easier than people walking around the streets trying to assess what the damage is. If we can fly a path over the top of an area it is much easier to do that.”

As part of Team Rubicon Uk's response, Amazon and MPOWERD have donated two thousand solar powered lights and chargers to help families struggling without power in the aftermath of the tsunami. 

To make a donation to support Team Rubicon UK’s work in Indonesia or for more information about the charity go to teamrubiconuk.org