Vast Oklahoma Tornado Kills at Least 91

Rescue workers searched the remains of Plaza Towers Elementary School through Monday night. By NICK OXFORD and MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

MOORE, Okla. — A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 91 people, 20 of them children, as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools.

The injured flooded into hospitals, and the authorities said many people remained trapped, even as rescue workers struggled to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred.

Amy Elliott, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner, said at least 91 people had died, including the children, and officials said that toll was likely to climb. Hospitals reported at least 145 people injured, 70 of them children.

Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore was reduced to a pile of twisted metal and toppled walls. Rescue workers were able to pull several children from the rubble, but on Monday evening crews were still struggling to cut through fallen beams and clear debris amid reports that dozens of students were trapped. At

Briarwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City, on the border with Moore, cars were thrown through the facade and the roof was torn off.

“Numerous neighborhoods were completely leveled,” Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department said by telephone. “Neighborhoods just wiped clean.”

He said debris and damage to roadways, along with heavy traffic, were hindering emergency responders as they raced to the affected areas.

A spokeswoman for the mayor’s office in Moore said emergency workers were struggling to assess the damage.

“Please send us your prayers,” she said.

Brooke Cayot, a spokeswoman for Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City, said 58 patients had come in by about 9 p.m. An additional 85 were being treated at Oklahoma University Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

“They’ve been coming in minute by minute,” Ms. Cayot said.

The tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m., 16 minutes after the first warning went out, and traveled for 20 miles, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla. It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said. It struck the town of Newcastle and traveled about 10 miles to Moore, a populous suburb of Oklahoma City.

Ms. Pirtle said preliminary data suggested that it was a Category 4 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale of 0 to 5. A definitive assessment will not be available until Tuesday, she said.

Moore was the scene of another huge tornado, in May 1999, in which winds reached record speeds of 302 m.p.h., and experts said severe weather was common in the region this time of year.

But the region has rarely had a tornado as big and as powerful as the one on Monday.

Television on Monday showed destruction spread over a vast area, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses destroyed. Residents, some partly clothed and apparently caught by surprise, were shown picking through rubble. Several structures were on fire, and cars had been tossed around, flipped over and stacked on top of each other. Kelcy Trowbridge, her husband and their three young children piled into their neighbor’s cellar just outside of Moore and huddled together for about five minutes, wrapped under a blanket as the tornado screamed above them, debris smashing against the cellar door.

They emerged to find their home flattened and the family car resting upside down a few houses away. Ms. Trowbridge’s husband rushed toward what was left of their home and began sifting through the debris, then stopped, and told her to call the police.

He had found the body of a little girl, about 2 or 3 years old, she said.
“He knew she was already gone,” Ms. Trowbridge said. “When the police got there, he just bawled.”

She said: “My neighborhood is gone. It’s flattened. Demolished. The street is gone. The next block over, it’s in pieces.”

Sarah Johnson was forced to rush from her home in Moore to the hospital as the storm raged when her 4-year-old daughter, Shellbie, suffered an asthma attack. With hail raining down, she put a hard hat on her daughter as she raced into the emergency room and hunkered down.

“We knew it was coming — all the nurses were down on the ground so we got down on the ground,” Ms. Johnson said from the Journey Church in nearby Norman, where she had sought shelter.

At the hospital, she said, she shoved her daughter next to a wall and threw a mattress on top of her. After the storm passed, debris and medical equipment were scattered around, she said.

Ms., Johnson said she and her daughter were safe, but she had yet to find her husband.

The storm system continued to churn through the region on Monday afternoon, and forecasters warned that new tornadoes could form.

An earlier storm system spawned several tornadoes across Oklahoma on Sunday. Several deaths were reported.

Russell Schneider, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, said the risk of tornadoes throughout the region remained high going into Tuesday.

Some parts of Moore emerged seemingly untouched by the tornado. Bea Carruth, who lives about 20 blocks from where the storm struck, said her home and others in her neighborhood appeared to be fine.

Ms. Carruth had ridden out the tornado as she usually does, at her son’s house nearby, the hail pounding away on the cellar where they had taken shelter. Tornadoes have long been a part of life in Moore, she said, and a few times a year, in a well-worn ritual, she goes into her son’s cellar when the sirens go off.

As devastating as the tornado was, the quick thinking of some prevented the death toll from going higher.

When the tornado sirens went off around 2:15, the staff of the AgapeLand Learning Center, a day care facility, hustled some 15 children into two bathrooms, draping them with a protective covering and singing songs with them to keep them calm.

As the wind ripped the roof off one of the bathrooms, and debris rained down on the children, they remained calm, singing “You Are My Sunshine,” the assistant director, Cathy Wilson, said. Though the day care center was almost entirely destroyed, the children were unharmed.

“Not a child had a scratch,” Ms. Wilson said.

Nick Oxford reported from Moore, and Michael Schwirtz from New York. Leslie Metzger and Kathleen Johnson contributed reporting from Norman, Okla., and Dan Frosch from Denver. The New York Times

The Metamorphosis Of ‘Wayang Beber’

Ghostly: This image of part of a wayang beber scroll features Rama preparing for battle.

While wayang kulit, or leather puppet shows, remain popular, wayang beber, a scroll-painted version of narration, has become a rarity, even in the cities known as the last bastions of this art: Pacitan in East Java and Wonosari in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta.


Wayang beber uses a cambric scroll as its medium, with illustrations of characters and scenes of the story to be told. The scroll is stretched between two columns, with the unrolled part being narrated by a dalang (puppeteer or narrator).

The episodes recited are generally derived from the romances of Panji (Prince) Asmarabangun and Dewi (Princess) Sekartaji in the history-based legends of East Java kingdoms around the 12th century.

“A dalang tells the story to his audience while unrolling the scroll. Now this wayang genre very rarely appears, not only in Solo but also in its original areas,” said Dani Iswardana, a contemporary wayang beber painter from Solo.

As a branch of performing arts and fine arts, wayang beber has practically come to a standstill. Some of the old scrolls left are now even kept by individuals as artifacts.

“The art was most frequently staged long ago. Existing since the 1200s, it’s much older than wayang kulit,” Dani said.

Lengthy: A visitor passes a wayang beber work by senior artist Djoko Sri Yono at a recent exhibition in Solo.

A wayang beber was recently performed by Ki Supani at the Sudjatmoko Center in Surakarta. Rather than a main program, the show by the dalang from Pacitan enlivened the opening of a wayang beber exhibition, “Between Inspiration and Transformation”. The display positioned wayang beber paintings as works of art even as they are used on stage for performances.

About 50 scrolls painted by artists of different generations from Solo and Yogyakarta were exhibited, including those by Djoko Sri Yono, Pudjianto and Hermin Istiariningsih, known as classical wayang beber painters. Their strokes and lines follow the sungging (intricate design painting) technique, covering traditional compositions and details.

Djoko Sri Yono presented his Panji illustrations depicting the episode of King Klana disguising himself as Gandarepa in an attempt to grab Dewi Sekartaji.

He used colors typical of wayang beber, brown, yellow and bright green. Younger artists experimented with non-standard patterns.

Dani Iswardana introduced what he termed wayang beber kota (city-styled), distinguishing his from the classical stories. In the style of this Solo artist, it is not the Panji episodes that are his focus but the lives of those on the margins and their difficulties. While retaining the shape of wayang characters, the stories have leaped into the present.

One can see Limbuk, a female clown, on Dani’s scroll being upset by a major flood as a result of gutters littered with garbage. More interestingly, the lead character, Dewi Sekartaji, can be seen hysterical in the face of soaring red onion prices.

Apart from Dani, other young painters tried to approach classical or established wayang beber as a source of inspiration.

Different: The style of wayang beber hails from Wonosari in Gunung Kidul and features the story of Kyai Remeng Mangunjaya.

Terra Bajraghosa in Quest for the Golden Scrolls also “betrayed” the standard episodes. Instead of portraying the Panji-Dewi romances, the Yogyakarta artist made a mini comic about a girl having an adventure on a robotic bicycle.

Slamet Riadi’s Ditarik Aja in Just Stretch It deconstructs classical wayang kulit characters into new forms: Chinese figures with a temple-roofed building rather than the symbolic mountain or gunungan. Under the figures is a dalang in a costume worn by a wayang potehi (Chinese wooden puppet) player.

There were also episodes of the Hindu epics as well as local legends such as Calon Arang (by Bagyo Suharyono), Tipu Muslihat Rahwana (Rahwana’s Deception by Aklis Nuryadin) and Perjalanan Cindelaras (Cindelaras’ Journey by Sutopo).

In the hands of Joko Wiyono, wayang beber turned critical. His work Bersaing Berebut (Competing in a Scramble) alludes to greed and the power-thirsty political elite. He calls to mind the Javanese saying, rebutan balung tanpa isi, meaning struggling for something worthless.

Another item on display came from the story of Joko Kembang Kuning, rendered by Sutopo. This tale is famous for being widely believed as the final part of the genuine wayang beber story of Pacitan. According to the standard, the final scene must never be narrated. Consequently, with its 24 scenes, the narration will stop when it comes to the 24th.

“Nobody knows the reason for it. But it’s likely that the last one describes the atmosphere of fervent affection between Panji Asmarabangun and Dewi Sekartaji so that it’s seen as inappropriate for public description,” Joko Sri Yono said.

New: This contemporary wayang beber by Terra Brajaghosa is titled Quest for the Golden Scrolls.

The exhibition also had two reproductions of wayang beber scrolls from Wonosari and Pacitan. The original scrolls from which the exhibits were reproduced are considered sacred. The families that own the antiques won’t allow anybody to view the actual scrolls. If they are to be shown, special rituals are
required.

In Pacitan, many people refer to Ki Sarnen Gunocarito as the 12th-generation dalang of genuine wayang beber called Joko Kembang Kuning. Ki was succeeded by Ki Sumardi. But sadly, the two highly skilled narrators have passed away.

Today Ki Supani has appeared as the 14th-generation dalang because he is the grandson of Ki Sarnen and the son of Ki Sumardi. However, Ki Supani isn’t yet an expert in performing classical wayang beber.

“I’ve become a dalang as an inheritor of this wayang beber handed down through generations. I still have to learn a lot more so as to be as skillful as my grandfather and father,” he said after his show at the Sudjatmoko Center.

In Wonosari, the wayang scroll is named Wayang Beber Kyai Remeng Mangunjaya. Its owner, Ki Sipar, is the seventh-generation narrator of Kyai Remeng Mangunjaya.

Wayang beber is indeed getting very scarce, so that the display is expected to lead to a revival of one of the country’s regional folk arts. Nevertheless, this event has provided some relief as it seems to have proven that quite a number of contemporary artists never abandon traditional arts.

These artists have contributed their works in accordance with the era in which they live and grow. At least in the styles of Terra Brajaghosa, Samet Riadi, Nasirun, Herdjaka, Dani Iswardana and Aklis Nuryadin,  wayang beber has metamorphosed into its new forms.

“Times have changed, but at least there are many artists who continue to be loyal to traditional roots although their works have developed to a further extent,” concluded Dani. Ganug Nugroho Adi, Contributor, Solo, Central Java. JG

Brewing Up Local Interest in Indonesia’s Gourmet Coffee

Robusta coffee beans are roasted at the Losari Coffee Plantation in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010. (Bloomberg Photo/Dimas Ardian)

Indonesia has long been known as a powerhouse in the global coffee trade. The country is the fourth largest coffee exporter in the world and last year alone it exported over 425,000 tons of coffee worth over $1.2 billion, most of which were of the Arabica and Robusta varieties. But while Arabica coffees like Luwak, Toraja Kalosi and Mandailing are fast becoming household names overseas, the Indonesian public still seem to be missing out on the hype.

Bogor Agricultural Institute lecturer Ade Wachjar pointed out that consumption of gourmet or specialty coffee in Indonesia is among the lowest in the world at less than a kilogram per person in 2012. This figure is a far cry from neighboring countries like Malaysia at over two kilograms or Vietnam with over one kilogram.
Indonesia’s consumption also pales in comparison to countries elsewhere in the world. Finland tops coffee consumption figures with over 12 kilograms, followed by Germany with seven kilograms and Brazil at 6 kilograms.

The JJ Royal Coffee company highlighted this fact during the launch of their newest product, JJ Royal Kopi Tubruk or black coffee.

“JJ Royal Kopi Tubruk is made of specialty grade one, or premium coffee, throughout Indonesia. Their packaging and reasonable price is designed to make gourmet coffee more accessible to the Indonesian public,” said JJ Royal Coffee president director Yusuf Sumartha during the event, which was also attended by bestselling author Dewi “Dee” Lestari and Indonesian rock act Andra and the Backbone.

“It is regrettable that many Indonesians are yet to enjoy our best coffee, which in turn renders them ignorant of Indonesia’s best brews,” Yusuf said. “I hope that JJ Royal Kopi Tubruk will find its way throughout Indonesia’s cities and its villages.”

He added that the sale of the premium coffee is in line with the rise of Indonesia’s middle class, particularly in recent years.

“I deplore the fact that most Indonesians drink second or third grade coffee, as the premium products are bound for export,” Dee Lestari concurred. “Coffee has always been a major part of Indonesian culture, which is something that I can personally attest to. For instance, my short story ‘The Philosophy of Coffee’ uses coffee as a metaphor that the best things in life are its simplest pleasures.”

Andra and the Backbone vocalist Dedy Lisan was just as critical.

“It seems that the government’s policy of exporting premium coffee is rooted in our agricultural policy,” he said. “For ages, we have been selling our best produce and have had to make do with the second or third rate stuff.”

JJ Royal Coffee also gave an inside glimpse of the coffee trade by holding a coffee cupping or coffee tasting. The process is almost akin to wine tasting.

“Tasters in coffee cupping set out to determine the coffee’s flavor through its aroma. This is vital, as a coffee’s taste is determined through its aroma,” explained JJ Royal Coffee product and advertising department head Clarissa Halim. “It is important that premium coffee be made of whole, flawless beans even before they are roasted. Defective beans can give the brew a sour taste if they are accidentally processed with their more wholesome counterparts.”

Though it did not take long to see Clarissa’s point, it did take a strong stomach. Coffee cupping entails trying three different brews, namely a cup of Arabica and Robusta as well as a mix of the two.

“The taster should take a sip of each coffee strain and taste it by swirling the coffee in their mouth” Clarissa explained. “They should then spit it into a cup and move to each respective coffee strain. This has to be done so that the taste of the preceding coffees would not cover up the taste of the coffees that come after them.”

She added that the taster should also take care not to swallow any bit of the coffee seed, as their strong, bitter taste would also cover the taste of other coffee brews.

While coffee cupping might be a stomach-turning proposition, it does make one view coffee in a new light.

The careful tasting revealed the Arabica’s sweetness and low acidity, while the Robusta’s highly acidic, full bodied, and strong flavor also stood out. The Arabica-Robusta mix was well blended, as it highlighted the best of the former’s sweetness with the latter’s strong flavor.

JJ Kopi Royal Tubruk has yet to prove whether it can live up to its billing of providing the Indonesian premium coffee to the public. But what is certain is that it is a step in the right direction for Indonesian coffee buffs deprived of their country’s best brews for too long. Tunggul Wirajuda, JG

Iran Routes Oil to Batam Port Amid Western Sanctions

Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker Delvar is seen anchored off Singapore in this March 1, 2012 file photo. (Reuters Photo/Tim Chong)

London. Iran is using an Indonesian port in a strategy to keep up sales to buyers in Asia in the teeth of Western sanctions, according to shipping data and industry sources.

Two Iranian very large crude carriers (VLCCs) able to hold 2 million barrels each sailed to Batam Island in April, according to AIS ship tracking on Reuters, which tracks global tanker movements, before moving on to China.

US and European sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran’s suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons have halved Iran’s shipments, costing the government billions of dollars in oil revenue, since the start of 2012.

“Iran has been using this strategy for the past few months,” said analysts at FGE, an energy consultancy. “The strategy is taking the crude to islands in Asia via VLCCs and selling it from there. It’s a crucial stream of revenue for the country, so it’s very important they sell as much as they can.”

Batam Island is just 20 kilometers (12 miles) off the south coast of Singapore, the continent’s oil hub.

Industry sources and oil traders said that before last year it was rare for Iranian tankers to ship crude there.

“I think it is a staging post and crude goes from Batam to China or whatever,” said an official with a global oil company who declined to be named. “The Iranians can either keep the crude there, or leave it in the ground.”

Iran has shipped oil via other islands in Asia to help maintain exports. In September, Reuters reported Iran was parking oil at Labuan before shipping it on to other destinations.

“They have used Labuan in Malaysia in the past, so there is nothing really to stop them using Batam as a base as there are no sanctions-related drawbacks,” said a shipping industry source familiar with Iran’s tanker fleet and its movements.

“All of this is too risky for the brokers in the West or most ship owners, but it’s a live trade nonetheless.”

Sailing to China
The two tankers, Sonata and Courage, both belong to Iran’s top tanker operator NITC. They have sailed on to China after Batam, according to AIS.

NITC could not be immediately reached for comment, while an Iranian oil official declined to comment.

Another shipping industry source said there were indications based on ship tracking other tankers could also be involved in movements around Batam. Three tankers — Glaros, Seagull and Ocean Nymph — last reported their positions around the South China Sea area close to Indonesia several days ago, but have since not updated their positions.

The vessels were part of a fleet of eight tankers that were bought by a Greek middle man who was sanctioned earlier this year by Washington for operating a shipping network on behalf of Iran.

In April, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude was China, followed by South Korea, Japan, India, Turkey and Taiwan, according to estimates from industry sources. All of these buyers have cut their purchases over the last year.

Iran has reduced its oil exports to about 1.1 million barrels per day — worth roughly $3.3 billion a month at current prices — or about half of their rate at the start of 2012 before tighter sanctions kicked in.

With Iran more dependent on its own tankers to move oil because of sanctions, NITC vessels including

Maharlika, Skyline and Demos have been making high-speed journeys to China and other Asian destinations from Iran to maxmimise flows, said a third shipping industry source.

“The average speed of the global fleet is anywhere between 8 to 11 knots at the moment,” the source said.

“But of late some of the Iranian tankers have been making journeys around the 16 knots mark, which is even faster than at the highest point of the market in 2008.”
Reuters

At Least 10 Killed In Attact On Qatari Officials In Somalia

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Around 11 people were killed in Somalia's capital Sunday when a suicide attacker from the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents rammed a car laden with explosives into a convoy carrying officials from Qatar, police said.

"Several people have been killed, the blast was big ... the number of those killed is around 11," police official Mohamed Adan said.

Four government officials visiting from Qatar were travelling in armoured vehicles belonging to the interior ministry when the convoy was attacked, but were unharmed.

"The convoy was escorting a delegation from Qatar, the police escorted them to a safe area after they survived the attack," General Garad Nur, a senior police commander, told reporters.

The blast is the latest in a string of bloody attacks in the seaside capital, where Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents have vowed to topple the government and have set off several bombs and launched guerrilla-style strikes.

"The mujahedeen have today carried out the first of a series of attacks," the Shebab said in a message on Twitter.

The car exploded close to a police station at the central K4 roundabout, a busy part of Mogadishu where many people gather to drink tea at roadside stalls.

Other police officials said that at least 10 people had been killed.

"I saw eight bodies including a woman, some of them were burned very badly by the fire from the explosion," said eyewitness Ali Yusuf. "It was a terrible sight."

An AFP reporter on the scene said that the armoured car hit in the attack had been damaged with its back windows blasted out.

Body parts were strewn around the blast site, where fire trucks sprayed water on the smouldering wreckage of the vehicles while several wounded were taken to hospital.

A second bomb hidden by the roadside and remotely detonated was set off around the same time in the Daynille district of Mogadishu targeting passing security forces, but injured no one, police added.

The attacks come just ahead of a conference in London on Tuesday to draw up plans to boost security and increase development in conflict-torn Somalia.

More than 50 countries and organisations are due to take part in the talks, co-hosted by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The United Nations special representative to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga condemned the attack as "cowardly and senseless", but said that such "acts of violence will not undermine the remarkable progress Somalia has made in the past months."

The attack comes a day after senior Shebab commander Ahmed Abdi Godane released an audio message in which he urged "the mujahedeen to increase the number of martyrdom operations, so as to permanently cripple the weak apostate regime."

Last month, the Shebab launched a show of force in a complex coordinated attack, killing at least 34 as suicide commandos stormed the main courthouse while a car bomb was set off elsewhere in Mogadishu.

While riven by infighting and hunted by US drones, the extremists remain a potent threat, launching car bombs and assassinations, and are still powerful in rural areas as well as reportedly infiltrating the security forces.

The insurgents recently released a series of photographs of masked gunmen flying black flags in front of machine guns mounted on trucks around the southern Somali port of Barawe, one of their few remaining strongholds.

The attack on Sunday comes after a week-long major security operation in the capital, with police closing down roads and searching cars for explosives.

A force of some 17,000 African Union troops are fighting alongside Somali government forces against the Shebab, forcing them from a series of key towns.

The AU force has played a key role in propping up the government, viewed by many as the first credible administration in the lawless country since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.