ILOCA, Chile (AlertNet) Â? "Chile be strong, Chile donÂ?t give up", say scribbled signs stuck to wooden poles amid the ruins of Iloca, a coastal resort town in southern Chile, as national flags flutter in the warm breeze.
During the summer season, the small town of Iloca, set amid the backdrop of pine and eucalyptus forested hills, is normally packed with tourists.
Today, except for a couple of soldiers, Ilocas streets are deserted. Like many other towns along ChileÂ?s Pacific coast, Iloca was flattened following the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that triggered a tsunami and unleashed a series of waves of up to 15 metres high.
Huge piles of wood and rubble line IlocaÂ?s streets. Nearby, the scattered remains of a circus tent lies strewn across the debris littered beach. The air is thick with the smell of rotten fish.
Local residents survey the damage of their pulverised homes, while a Chilean air force helicopter scours the region looking for isolated communities who may still need emergency help.
Small hotel and business owners pick through the rubble. They clean and repair what little they can salvage. Most will have to rebuild their homes and businesses from scratch.
Â?ThereÂ?s nothing left here,Â? said local resident Maria Castillo, standing in the rubble of her destroyed sea-view hotel. Â?ItÂ?s all gone.Â?
Castillo, like other residents, fled to seek refuge in the nearby hills as unusually high waves ominously approached Iloca when the quake struck in the early hours of February 27.
Homeless and desperate survivors have voiced anger and frustration at outgoing President Michelle Bachelet's handling of the disaster, saying her adminstration has been slow in getting aid to the survivors.
Nearly two weeks after the quake, there is no electricity or drinking water in Iloca. Food and water tanks provided by the government arrived four days after the quake struck.
Â?The government has focused on helping the large municipalities and towns first,Â? said Castillo. Â?WeÂ?ve been left until last.Â?
While the governmentÂ?s revised death toll, down from around 800 to nearly 500, is relatively low considering the force of one of the worldÂ?s most powerful earthquakes, the damage to homes, local economies and infrastructure is on a massive scale.
The government estimates that around two million Chileans have been affected by the quake and hundreds of thousands of buildings and houses have been damaged or destroyed.
FISHING COMMUNITIES HARD HIT
The fishing industry, the backbone economy of many coastal communities, is at a standstill during what is normally the busy sardine and anchovy fishing season.
Untold numbers of fishing boats and nets have been destroyed, with some seen washed up two kilometres inland.
Â?On top of losing their homes, people have lost their livelihoods,Â? said Diego Durruty, a volunteer from the capital, Santiago, who is helping locals clean up debris in Iloca.
The quake was so powerful that it redrew the maps of the region, with displacements of up to 4 metres in areas near the epicenter, according to preliminary studies by the Central and Southern GPS project, Chilean scientist said on Tuesday.
Across southern and central Chile, a massive rebuilding effort is under way, which the government estimates could cost around $30 billion.
Â?Our government will not be the government of the earthquake. Our government will be the government of reconstruction, Â? President-elect Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire businessman who will be sworn in on March 11 in a toned-down ceremony, has vowed.
It will take Pinera most of his four-year presidency to rebuild, experts say. Along with restoring electricity and water supplies to quake affected regions, building new homes and repairing infrastructure is one of the governmentÂ?s immediate priorities.
The cost of repairing mangled roads and torn bridges is estimated at $1.2 billion, while repairing the 14 damaged hospitals could total around $3.6 billion, according to the government.
But government inspectors, structural engineers and architects are only slowing arriving to quake-affected towns concentrated in ChileÂ?s southern Maule region to assess the extent of the damage.
Those buildings already deemed too dangerous to live in, display the word "inhabitable" sprayed in red across their facades.
RECONSTRUCTION TASK FORCE
The government has appointed new ministers and a task force to head the reconstruction effort.
A new entity, the National Reconstruction Department, has been set up, which is in charge of building thousands of homes and making sure they comply with quake-resistant building codes implemented across Chile since the last major earthquake to hit the country in 1985.
According to local pollster Adimark GFK, nearly 60 per cent of Chileans are optimistic about the countryÂ?s future under the new government despite the setbacks and challenges brought on by the quake. Fifty-seven percent of Chileans believe the government will keep its election promise to create one million new jobs.
For people in Iloca, the immediate concern is getting a roof over their heads.
Â?The insurance company wonÂ?t pay out,Â? said Castillo. Â?I just hope the government will give me a grant to help me build a new home.Â?
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