China aftermath: Total chaos, small miracles

(CNN) -- iReporter Ben Geisler rode his motorcycle into some of the areas hardest hit in Monday's earthquake.

Geisler said he was able to get within about 15 miles (25 kilometers) of the quake's epicenter Wednesday, but some areas are still accessible only by air.

He said it took several hours to make the 25-mile (40 kilometer) trip from Chengdu to Dujiangyan because of the "mass exodus" of people in cars and on motorcycles, on bicycles and on foot, carrying everything they had left from their shattered cities and towns.

"I'm fortunate to have a motorcycle and be able to navigate between lanes of traffic, use access roads, ride the wrong direction down one way roads just to get into an area that everyone's trying to get out of," he said.

Geisler was on the 17th floor of a Chengdu office building when the quake struck and said he "could feel the marble tiles on the walls cracking underneath my hands." Watch Geisler describe riding out the quake »

The Idaho Falls, Idaho, native is the operations manager for an international relocation company and works as an English-language broadcaster for Chinese media.iReport.com: Are you there? Send your photos and videos

He described the dramatic journey in an e-mail to CNN, which is reprinted below:

I left the city today to get a better idea of the situation. I rode out of Chengdu toward Dujiangyan.

Almost all traffic was headed out of the city, lanes clogged. Filling stations that were still open had lines that extended for blocks. Nearer the center, the extent of the destruction was obvious.

I came into Dujiangyan off of an access road, all of the roads leading to and away from the expressway were completely blocked by traffic, military vehicles, mobile aid stations.

Choppers were touching constantly to deliver supplies. I made my way farther in -- total chaos.

The extent is unbelievable. Some buildings leveled, others undamaged. People everywhere, living everywhere, crying.

Refugee-type camps set up amid the red cross tents, enormous piles of rubble, garbage etc. Half-destroyed buildings everywhere, some shifting.

Dozens of cranes, dozers, backhoes, etc. picking through the rubble, unburied bodies in the street.

Others coming out of the wreckage continually, some survivors, some worse. Field hospitals occupy several open areas.

Fortunately, the rain has stopped for now, there are fears that the sun and the cooler temperatures at night will complicate the situation by causing dehydration and hypothermia.

The military seems to be making progress. I saw several hundred rescue workers deployed, marching military-style in orange jumpsuits.

I tried to get deeper into the zone, but was stopped in a village above Dujiangyan.

Road marginally passable. Old wooden construction all flattened especially buildings built on the hillsides. Boulders partially blocking the road.

A continuous stream of people, with whatever they could salvage, walking toward the camps; sense of community the only armor against the night.

Large-scale aid does not seem to have reached the villages.

I turned back to Dujiangyan and worked my way around Qingchengshan.

Not as damaged there, but much the same situation as Dujiangyan. People everywhere, short on supplies of food, water, blankets, first aid. The far side of Qingchengshan was less damaged. I talked with locals for an hour who said the only aid received so far is water and rice. No power, no gas, no running water, no telephone.

The quake has destroyed everything they own.

Only upside was a girl discovered a freezer with ice cream that had not thawed. Small miracle.

All About China • Earthquakes • Natural Disasters