The dead are many (22,000), but each has a story (Vivid, horrifying accounts from the tsunami)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | December 28, 2004 | Philip Cornford and Connie Levett

[dead]

Death toll

More than 23,000 people were killed by a tsunami triggered by a 9-magnitude earthquake in southern Asia.

These figures are preliminary and in some cases rough estimates by local officials:

• Sri Lanka: 11,500 dead; 1 million affected.
• India: 5697 dead.
• Indonesia: 4912 dead.
• Burma: 56 dead.
• Malaysia: 44 dead; 100 hurt.
• Thailand: 839 dead; 5000 hurt.
• Bangladesh: 2 dead.
• Maldives: 43 dead.
• Somalia: 100 dead.

About 3000 are feared killed in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands.

In addition, about 1300 people are missing in India's Andhra Pradesh.

QUOTES:

Indian vegetable hawker N. Arasu: "We are too scared to sleep. What if the sea rises again and takes us away in our sleep?"

American tourist Moira Lee, 28: "Our paradise turned into hell ... We saw a massive wave coming toward us and our waitress freaked out. She told us to run for our lives. So we just turned and ran for about a mile up the hill."

Boree Carlsson, Swedish hotel worker on Thailand's Phuket island: "As I was standing there, a car actually floated into the lobby and overturned because the current was so strong."

Sri Lankan hospital official: "We have got hundreds of dead that we have dealt with ... "I don't know what to do."

Marine colonel Buyung Lelana, Indonesia: "It smells so bad, fishy. The human bodies are mixed in with dead animals like dogs, fish, cats and goats,"

Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga: "We are not well equipped to deal with a disaster of this magnitude because we have never known a disaster like this."

Narasamma, Indian fisherman's wife: "I have been waiting for my husband and brother since yesterday. Around 40 people from my village have not come back from the sea. I am not sure they will come back as I can see wrecked boats floating in the water."

Mustofa, mayor in Sumatra: "We are making preparations for the funerals. Officials are being asked to look for coffins. I am hoping there are still enough coffins available."

[Taliesan]

Note to self: if you're ever walking on the beach and the tide suddenly sucks out hundreds of yards, don't stand there marveling at it. Turn and run.

[af_vet_1981]

American tourist Moira Lee, 28: "Our paradise turned into hell ... We saw a massive wave coming toward us and our waitress freaked out. She told us to run for our lives. So we just turned and ran for about a mile up the hill."

The waitress helped save their lives.

What an awesome calamity

[television is just wrong]

That must have been a hell of a sight. Would have made me run for dear life.

[Iowa Granny]

Incredible. It's just so massive that it's hard to comprehend.

Prayers going up for all affected by this horrid disaster.

[SirLurkedalot]

Prayers bump. Just horrible...

[2banana]

People were running everywhere and the first waves hit the road," he wrote. "They were not huge, not too destructive. They brought fish to the shore and people rushed to collect them. Smiling boys ran with fish dangling in their hands."

But the waves kept coming, stronger and bigger. He struggled to high ground with others, some of whom were carrying their dead.

I have read accounts when the same thing would happen in ancient times (such as Alexandria). The water would churn and then go out to sea exposing the sea bed and fish. Many of the residents would run out for the "free meals" just laying there. Then the water would come back in...

[thegreatbeast]

Such stories. It really must seem like the End Times if you are caught unawares by something as seemingly uncomprehensible (the waters being so dramatically drawn out and then surging back in). But the question can't be escaped, Why weren't more people warned? Once an earthquake occurs, certain things happen, where was the warning of tsunamis?

[Conservative Vet]

Thanks for the updated news.

I finally spoke with my fiancee's sister last night. We were in Phuket and Phi Phi island 4 weeks ago visiting her.

The optical shop she manages on Patong Beach was closed for the weekend because of Christmas. She had planned to go to the beach that morning but decided to go back to bed when she woke up. (Very lucky for her). When she heard the news she rushed to the beach and saw cars stacked atop each other and destruction everywhere. Her optical shop was in ruins--she would have been injured or killed if she were working in the shop that day.

Since she is from the Philippines and speaks fluent english, she went to the hospital to volunteer to translate for the western tourists. She said there were so many wounded and so much blood, it was like a war zone. She saw one room stacked with dead bodies, including many children (mostly children of tourists). When she saw that, she broke down crying and had to leave the hospital. She said there were lots of injuries and deaths on the roads as people fled. She decided to walk instead of risk an accident on her motor scooter. She spent the night in the cold shivering on a hill because they were warned bigger waves might be coming inland.

I told her the media was reporting 500 dead in Thailand. She said the final numbers would be MUCH higher and that most of the dead and wounded would be Europeans, Australians, and Americans.

I'm still stunned at what happened---especially since I almost took my vacation over Christmas instead Thanksgiving. I only chose to travel in November because Cathay Pacific ran a special promotion to Thailand at that time.

My heart goes out to the families of the dead and wounded and to the local people who depended on the tourist industry for their livelihood. It will probably be years before Phuket rebounds, if ever.

[Dogrobber]

Note to self: if you're ever walking on the beach and the tide suddenly sucks out hundreds of yards, don't stand there marveling at it. Turn and run like the Lords of Hell are at your heels.

Normal running just won't cut it.

[antivenom]

I am an avid scuba diver and during Labor Day while in Hopnduras we had ACTUALLY discussed going to Phuket for Thanksgving or Xmas this year...we backed out when the group we had made plans with decided for the sake of terrorism stay in this hemispere.

I have been to Indonesia 3 times for diving excursions, dived in the Maldives too...we boarded a live aboard in Male (the largest island) and remained at sea for two weeks visiting many of the very small islands, basically fishing villages...and all I can say, I know how fragile their communities are...the simple buildings, no infrastructure. phones or electricity...very meager lil communities...

this is so very sad.

[redgolum]

In historic times, this happened in places like Alexandria. The sea would rush out and people would stand and marvel at it.

A movie that shows this rather well was Deep Impact.

Prayers to all those in Asia.

[Conservative Vet]

I've heard the waters off of Honduras (Roatan Island) are beautiful. Actually terrorism was my primary worry in Southern Thailand as Jemaah Islamiyah has been trying to work with local insurgents to attack the popular tourist spots. Fortunately the CIA and Thai intelligence services have disrupted attacks before they happened.

I'm also worried about the reports of buildings swaying in Bangkok. I wonder what kind of structural damage was done since they are certainly not constructed to withstand earthquakes as the buildings here in California are.

The waters of the Andaman Sea are so peaceful and Patong Bay is normally very calm. No one would have expected a tsunami to hit. Many more would have died if they weren't nursing hangovers from too much Christmas revelry. The beaches are packed later in the day.

[Badray]

I just got this email message from a friend who was concerned about some family members who were there and caught up in it but amaziningly survived with relatively minor injuries.

---

"Thank you ever so much for your concern about Thomas and his family. Yesterday was a horrible day for us too. For a long time we did not know any more about the catastrophy than what spread on the news by CNN and other networks. For hours we and Mike had tried to get in touch with Thomas via his mobile phone, but it was impossible to get through. However, at around noon something happened which lightened our hearts. Our phone rang, and it appeared to be one of Thomas' colleagues from the bank. Apparently he had sent an sms to Thomas' phone, and Thomas must just by luck have been in an
area, where messages could get through. So Thomas, who himself had tried to call Denmark several times, immediately sent an answer back to his colleague reading as follows:


All well. Call my Father. Chaos and many dead people. We cry and miss you all a lot. Thomas.


Later in the day a call came through to us directly from Thomas. He told us, that the whole family, the 4 of them, had been in the water swimming, when the first tidal wawes came in. The kids who were closer to the beach ran in and up the hill side, whereas Thomas and Mette were whirled around in the water and ended up with various body damages. Mette had several ribs either broken or pressed in, and Thomas had wounds on legs and face. They were taken to a hospital about 30 miles from their hotel, and after initial examination they were moved to a local gym, where they have stayed overnight
and they are still there.


We have just learned that on Wednesday morning they are booked on a flight from Pukhet Island to Bangkok, where they will be a couple of days until travel arrangement can be made to bring them home.


Certainly, a disaster has been about to strike on our family, but thanks to God the Almighty and his mercy we have been spared. We thank God that Thomas, Mette, Caroline and Sebastian are still alive.



Love - and thanks again for your concern and prayers."

[shhrubbery!]

But the question can't be escaped, Why weren't more people warned? Once an earthquake occurs, certain things happen, where was the warning of tsunamis?

I'm sure many people are wondering about that.

On Fox News yesterday I saw two experts, one American and one Chinese, explain that
(1) tsunamis in the Indian Ocean are rare, so people are unprepared for them (unlike people in Japan, for instance); and
(2) the kind of sensors that are used to detect seismic and tsunami activity are practically non-existent because they are logistically very hard to place in the Indian Ocean, for some reason I don't remember.

[antivenom]

Yes I dive Roatan at CoCoView resort. Memorial day will be my 19th trip. Have to admit...even if that event had happened there at Roatan...just pretend...I don't know IF the locals or anyone would put together two and two and recognize that the sudden rush of water out would mean sudden rush of water in.

Just can't imagine the people's bewilderment leading up to this event. I guess I now know to RUN.

But when you are a tourist how do you know WHERE to run to?

All of this is so very sad and scary.

[Free Trapper]

Roatan is great for diving.

[Strategerist]

Normal running just won't cut it.

Actually normal running will do just fine in almost all cases.

If you start running...or even just walking fast...as soon as you see the sea recede you have about 5-10 minutes before the wave hits. In most parts of the world that will put you either high enough or inland enough to avoid the tsunami.

[Conservative Vet]

I highly recommend the new Michael Crichton book "State of Fear". There are some riveting scenes in the book that deal with trying to outrun a tsunami. It's so ironic--I spent Christmas afternoon perched on some rocks, near Big Sur, watching the gray whales migrate and observing the sun as it set into the Pacific. I was closer than I should have been to the water but watched the waves very carefully and wedged myself in to the rocks tight in case the water reached me. The biggest danger would be a powerful rogue wave. I was thinking of the Crichton book and how I would be toast if a tsunami hit the west coast while I was sitting there.

I had no idea that the planet had suffered a massive quake and a tsunami was already building and heading towards the beaches in other parts of the world.

I think the only defense is to gain altitude as quickly as possible by running uphill as fast as you can. If you see the ocean suck all the water of a bay---that's a sign it's time to run like he** because the water will be coming back hard and fast.