In case you guys missed it, I had a story about a Laguna Beach surfer who was on a trip in Indo when the devastating earthquake hit on Sept. 30. It was pretty amazing what this guy, Jon Rose, was able to do in the early hours of the relief effort.

Jon Rose, of Laguna Beach, with Red Cross workers in Padang after the 7.6 earthquake hit. Photo courtesy of Jon Rose

Here’s a snippet from the story:

Jon Rose sits on the back of a moped, scouring the crumbled city of Padang.
He passes hotels he’s stayed in, looking straight into the rooms. The walls have collapsed. Cracks in the ground run five-feet deep. Entire structures are crumbled like so much broken glass.

The pro surfer had just spent days on a boat off the Indonesian coast, riding waves with friends. When a massive earthquake hit a day before their trip finished, they barely felt it.

But now, he hears screams echoing beneath buildings.

Unable to move concrete slabs that lay on top of the cries, he keeps on searching the streets for plastic containers.

“It was hard to leave,” he said later, tears welling in his eyes as he recalls the memory.

“I had to block it out. I had a mission.”

If you have a chance, check out the story I wrote or Rose’s website at Waves for Water to learn more about how the region needs help.

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