U.S. Copters, Tents Sent to Aid Survivors

As President Reagan assured Colombians on Friday that “our prayers are with you,” State Department officials detailed the first $1 million in aid to victims of the devastating Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption and geared up an emergency task force to provide more.

In addition, U.S. government disaster relief specialists have been dispatched to Colombia--and others are standing by--to help determine the country’s needs, which are being assessed in consultation with the Bogota government.

At the Agency for International Development, acting administrator Jay F. Morris said that 12 helicopters, 500 family-sized tents and 4,500 blankets and other supplies have been sent from the U.S. Southern Command in Panama to a Colombian military base near the disaster area. Additional aid will be provided as needs are determined, he said.

“We are working round the clock in our Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance to monitor and respond to emergency requirements of the survivors,” Morris said at a news conference.

Seeking IMF Aid

Colombian Ambassador Rodrigo Lloreda said at a news conference that he was to meet Friday evening with officials of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in an effort to get developmental aid for rebuilding devastated parts of his country.

At the IMF, a spokesman said that Colombia “has not used the fund’s resources in a long time,” although an IMF evaluation of the country’s financial practices has determined that Colombia could qualify for aid if it requested it.

Lloreda sought to play down speculation about whether Colombian officials should have evacuated the area around Nevado del Ruiz when scientists predicted a devastating eruption, telling reporters that the tragedy struck Wednesday night before “the whole (evacuation) plan had been developed.”

He also said it would have been “a very difficult thing to force people out of their homes . . . for something that might happen,” adding that evacuation would have meant relocating about 1 million people. “Where do you take them?” he asked.

An ‘Inexact Science’

Similarly, Morris said that predicting volcanic eruptions is “a very inexact science.” He said the U.S. government had provided technical information to Colombia, including a hazard assessment, a warning plan and an evacuation plan--all of which were delivered by the Colombian government to local officials “just five days before the major eruption occurred.”

“With just a little more time,” he said, “these plans would have been fully disseminated.”

In a letter to Colombian President Belisario Betancur, Reagan said he was “stunned to learn of the devastation” and that “our prayers are with you. . . .” He called Colombia a “great friend and ally of the United States.”