SANTIAGO, CHILE The flames consumed everything on Sonia
Diaz's land: the machinery, supplies, even the shed for her sheep. But the
70-year-old artisan weaver still hopes to rise from the ashes.
Diaz is one of thousands of people who
have lost most of their belongings and their livelihoods to some of the worst
wildfires in Chile's history. Besides farmers and ranchers, hundreds of
small-scale winemakers, beekeepers and artisans have also lost everything.
With the flames seeming to be finally
dying down — though they sometimes spread anew when winds whip up smoldering
ash — survivors are looking at how to recover their livelihoods amid complaints
by some that state aid is not enough given the extent of the devastation.
"I'm going to rise again through
hard work, and hard work alone," said Diaz, who had been assessing the
damage to her town with other local artisans when she got a call warning her
that the flames were spreading fast from the hills onto her land.
By the time she arrived, the fires had
destroyed her supplies, including the wool she uses to make blankets,
tapestries and shawls. Everything got burned but her home located in Pumanque,
some 130 miles (215 kilometers) south of the capital, Santiago.
The ferocity of the blazes led
President Michelle Bachelet to issue a state of emergency, deploy troops and
seek international aid. Supertanker planes from the United States and Russia
have dumped thousands of gallons of water to assist local crews.
In all, more than 20,000 people,
including firefighters and experts from more than a dozen countries, have
battled the wildfires that Bachelet has called the worst forest disaster in
Chile's history. At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the fires. The fires have consumed forests and
entire towns. But many continue to show the same stoicism that has helped
Chileans to recover from other natural disasters, including large earthquakes,
tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
Bachelet said on Friday that the flames
are no longer threatening residential areas for now and that her government is
beginning to hand out money and food to the Chilean who have been worst-hit by
the fires."The emergency situation is still
ongoing, so it's important to not drop our guard," Bachelet said.
So far, the government has spent about
$330 million to control the emergency and is helping small-scale farmers
rebuild their homes and lands, said Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes. The full
extent of the damage has yet to be quantified.
An estimated 80 families that made a
living from beekeeping lost their livelihoods in the area near the city of
Cauquenes, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) south of Santiago. About 63 million
bees died in the area and some 240 million bees are at high risk, said forestry
engineer and beekeeper consultant Carlos Correa.
Beekeeper Jorge Andrade complained that
the $1,500 government aid that he will get for losing it all, "is
nothing," and will only help him recover a small fraction of his hundreds
of beehives.
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