Tall Orders for Sumatra's Coast

ONE-meter-wide, steel-reinforced steps with a metal handrail ran up the outer walls of combo office-house buildings on both sides of Jalan Teuku Umar in Meulaboh, Aceh. There were six to 11 of these structures on each block, separated by narrow alleyways with steps leading up to concrete decks atop the two-storey buildings.

Signs on the steps read "Safety Building (GP)" and carried the logos of the West Aceh Regency government and the Regional Disaster Relief Agency (BPBD). Some of the cement plaster that covers the decks had already started cracking and flaking. However, these basketball-court-sized open areas could save many lives if a tsunami sweeps through the region, as it did in 2004.