Panic before the storm (a terribly sad series of three pictures taken as the tsunami approaches)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | 12/30/04

[dead]

Tourists run for their lives as the first of six tsunamis starts to roll towards Hat Rai
Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand. One woman runs towards the waves.
Photo: AFP

The woman continues to run as the wave advances.
Photo: AFP

With the waves engulfing boats, the woman makes contact with her group. It is not known if they survived.
Photo: AFP

[JimmyMc]

http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/images/tsunami.pdf

[two23]

Yesterday on Fox, they showed satellite images of the beach before the surf pulled away and after the surf pulled away...the exposed sea floor looked like maybe a half mile of dark, shiney gray sand. I have the images and will try to post if they haven't been posted already (I have a hard time finding free image hosting that doesn't expire the pics after a short period of time)

[dfwgator]

A Mach Truck would be going 760 mph...

True that. Of course I meant Mack Truck.

[Steve_Seattle]

"In retrospect, we regard those people as idiots, but looking at the waves, they don't look THAT ominous. I've seen pictures of surfers in Hawaii on MUCH scarier looking waves."

That was absolutely the same impression I had when I first saw video of these waves; compared to waves I've seen during surfing competitions, these waves didn't look that ominous. As you say, the difference was that these waves didn't break on the shore, but kept coming. And even a five or six foot wave can have an enormous pull. My guess is that the folks in these pics were all sucked out to sea.

[Travis McGee]

You are correct about the waves having a very different appearance and effect due to offshore and onshore slope etc. I read that the "back" side of Sri Lanka was hit worse than the "front" or eastern side. This is because the waves wrapped around from both north and south, and came in from many directions at once, creating superwave "nodes" and super trough "antinodes" resulting in amazing miles wide whirl pools and eddies and so on. This was worse than "just" getting 6-10 waves straight on in an "orderly" fashion.

[BunnySlippers]

One has to wonder about the photographer ... he survived. But may have had a long lens.

[KoRn]

http://tinypic.com/

Very good hosting site!

[Orange1998]

Amen

[EBH]

I've been searching for pics or maps of that beach area. I know the pics don't give us much info., but I find it hard to believe those are hills etc. Looking at the map it's hard to believe those are hills...I know it depends on the angle etc., but darn...either way.

http://www.molon.de/galleries/Thailand/Krabi/RaiLehPhraNang/

[null and void]

;^)

[two23]

Thanks KoRn--I just signed up to village photo, but if that doesn't work..I'll use your link.

[Go Gordon]

Trying to put myself in her shoes, if my two little boys and wife were out there,

Lesbo

[biggerten]

I remember my first experience with the ocean (I'm from Wisconsin).

I ran into the surf (maybe 3 or 4 foot waves). I'm about 400 pounds, the first wave picked me up and slammed me down, thank you very much.

My wife has a picture and thinks it was funny, but I got some skin left in the sand.

I have a lot more respect for the ocean.

[Timeout]

Amazing when you consider that "wave height" was spread over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles.

[Darnright]

>She was running towards what looks like her husband and four kids.<

Horror is just inadequate to describe that scene.

[ArrogantBustard]

"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
-John 15:3

[Muzzle_em]

I just hope there was a miracle.
Did you see the little Swedish boy who was reunited with his father after they were hit by the wave? He ended up on a hillside wrapped in a blanket and a couple brought him to a hospital. It was amazing. His father lived, but his mother is missing.

[JustDoItAlways]

Based on those photos, I understand why over 100,000 people died.

Remember, the wave will have different heighth depending on the rise of the sea floor up to the land in that particular area. In some areas, entire villages of 10,000 people will have been wiped out. In others, a gentle rush of water a few feet high would have pushed inland.

That is why tsunamis are so difficult to forecast. There are so many factors that build into its destructive power in any particular area.

Those photos, however, are the last moments of many in the pictures.

[antivenom]

Over rocks, over coral, over the cement walls along the islands shoreline roads, along the cement patios of resorts, along and into swimming pools, into fences around the swimming pools...into and through buildings...down streets...these waves had such an underpull with so much debris...just a whack in the head with a pvc chair was sure as death...can't hold your breath when you have been knocked unconscious...so very sad for the victims...

[NittanyLion]

I wonder if the husband and kids were out on a kayak or something, and had to run all the way in to shore. I hope they didn't walk out on the seabed when the water receded.