I also heard the same report about Thailand declining to pass on the warning.
Plus, the sheer number of island areas ( did they even have phone service ?) and individual resorts to be contacted, may have made it a physically impossible task, anyway.
I wonder if the UN or Olympia Snowe had ever thought it might be important to educate people in countries bordering large ocean masses, about tsunamis?
It sounds like the majority of people watching the initial outflow of the ocean, viewed it with curiousity, more than fear.
I wonder how many of the villagers would have even understood the concept of a tsunami ?
It sounds like very few people, from the locals to Westerners and Europeans had any idea that when the ocean suddenly washed out, a tsunami was incoming.
I know I didn't.
I've visited Hawaii many times and on the back of the hotel doors and in the phonebooks, they have tsunami evacuation plans- like a tornado warning, a siren will sound and you should go a designated place of higher ground.
I don't recall seeing anything about a receding ocean as a harbinger of a tsunami.
Olympia Snowe and Kofi Annan and the New York Times and Patrick Leahy and the rest of the US Senate have been derelict in educating the world about the warning signs of tsunamis and I think there should be hearings as to why they did not. ( sarcasm off )
Meanwhile, those that actually walk the walk, will be out arranging help for the victims, while the usual suspects will be whining and pointing fingers, on Meet The Press.
When I read about Snowe wanting investigations and hearings, etc., it just hit a bulls-eye with one of my pet peeves about Congress.
They don't have very long sessions without some kind of break, for some kind of holiday or some such, but when they ARE in session, they only want to gripe about Bush and hold hearings to find out more reasons to complain, instead of just going to work each day, punching in (so to speak), and doing the people's work.
I've heard off and on since before the election that the Dems were gonna call for hearings and investigations into voter fraud, did we go into Iraq illegally, had Halliburton stolen more money than Koko Annen? You name it, the dems will holding hearings, BUT, they won't get any budget cuts dones, social security fixes, the income taxes made easier and fairer, etc.
I, too, have a feeling that the first week back for Congress will just be one bloviater after another critisizing Bush for the Iraq casualties, the tsunami, the floods in California, the Ukraine elections, the poisoning of one of the Ukraine candidates, I'm sure I will think of more things the dems will make speeches about instead of tackling the hard problems.