NOAA clips of Tsunomi hours before it happened that was sent out in bulletins can be seen here:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/time/
NOAA had computer generated models of the Tsunomi hours before it hit and sent out information bulletins with warnings.
Did the death toll need to be this high if there was forewarnings?
Hours before it happened? The models have to include the fact that the earthquake was 9.0. But the earthquake itself was originally modeled at 6.8, then 7.8, then 8.5, then 8.9, then 9.0. These revisions didn't happen in minutes - the tsunami models were made long after the waves struck. Don't forget that the 8 PM EST on Saturday is not a day before the quake - it was already Sunday over there. Too late. The waves took only a few minutes after the quake to hit Sumatra, and a couple of hours to reach Sri Lanka and India. The quake was still thought to be in the 7s then - way too small to generate a significant tsunami.