TSUNAMI SURVIVOR STORIES

WHAT ARE TSUNAMI SURVIVORS FEELING?

2011-03-13T11:17:00.000+08:00

Forty-eight hours have passed since the Japan tsunami swept through Northern Japan. Tens of thousands of people are in emotional and physical turmoil right now in Japan.

Over the last hours, friends and several news show have contact me. In trying to help the world understand what is going on, they have asked me, "Rick, what are people feeling and thinking right now?"

My goal is to help people "feel" what survivors are feeling. It is one thing to see the horrific news clips on television. But I want everyone to at least try to understand what people are feelings at this moment.

When we watch television, we see numbers like "9,500 missing." But we are not sure if we should be thankful or sad. What we don't see are numbers like, "500,000 people have had their family, homes and lives taken away." And we don't get to see how they are feeling.

From my minutes and hours of being in the middle of the tsunami, to the hours and days afterwards in Thailand in 2004, I know what it feels like. There are so many emotions running through your body - your head - your soul. You can't even process all of them. One minute, you feel such sadness and loss. Then it becomes overwhelming, and you just sit and stare. Likely in shock. Then you try to think your way out of it - until it just becomes overwhelming again. And then you start the cycle all over again.

Based upon my minutes, hours and days after the SE Asia tsunami, here are some of the emotions and feelings people are likely experiencing right now in Japan.

SHOCK - mostly, it is beyond belief. Your brain nearly shuts down, and you almost feel that the only thing to do is to just get from one minute to the next.

FEAR OF ANOTHER ANY SECOND NOW - You are scared. Your brain tells you that if this one happened, then other will happen. In Thailand, at least 8 successive "waves" came into shore. On the television, they show the main wave over and over. But in the hardest hit areas, the waves go back and forth, as the water settles. And each time the wave comes back, even though it looks smaller than the last, it still rushes in, and pulls back with it more lives, buildings and hope. In Japan - the complication is even worse. Reports are that this "tsunami" is actually the result of a "aftershock" from an earthquake that happened over the previous two days. Everyone was used to these earthquakes. They had been happening. But this time, it causes such great destruction. And now, making the loss worse, is the feeling that the start of every tremor will simply get longer, stronger, and create yet again another tsunami - this time perhaps even stronger and more devastating.

Sidenote: When you move or travel in Japan, you never forget your first earthquake. For me, it was in 1997. I had arrived to work for a year. My first earthquake happened early in the morning. I was awakened by the shaking. I jumped up, and ran into the room of the family with whom I was staying. The mother spoke no English. All I could do was to look into her eyes to see if I could see fear. She did not look alarmed. And so, I could also calm down. Over time, I could always rely on the faces and the eyes of the Japanese to have an intuitive sense if this was going to be a bad earthquake. Fortunately for me, while in Japan, I never experienced a bad one. However, 48 hours ago, it was different. I talked to a colleague in Japan. He told me that this earthquake started out like normal. But this time, after 15 seconds, everyone looked into each others eyes. The earthquake started to get stronger. And longer. And this time, they looked into each other's eyes, and knew this one was going to be really bad.

NIGHT TIME IS THE WORSE - For so many reason, night time is the most frightening of all. First of all, the power is out all around you. And if you have some sort of power to make light, like oil or laterns or candles, you use them sparingly, not knowing for sure if you will need them for hours or days to come. But what is amazing is "how dark, dark really is." I never knew how dark things could be until you have a devastation that results in power loss. When every street lamp, car light or house light is out - then things are so pitch black that you can't even see in front of you. And your sense of hearing takes over. And what do you hear? Not cars or engines. Because nothing is moving. All you hear is the sound of water nearby. The rushing of waves. And that is the scariest thing of all. Your mind starts to play tricks on you. You wonder if another wave is coming. If it will be larger than the last. You think you are safe. You are on high land. But what if another wave comes even higher. This time, you won't even be able to see it. And all you can hear is the water.

FEAR ABOUT THE DEAD. It is something few ever experience in their life. But when you know that dead people are around you, it really scares you. You know that the water around you contains hundreds or thousands of dead people. In the light, before sunset, you could see the bodies floating in the water. And then waves would come, and take them away. And then more bodies would appear. A part of you becomes numb in seeing the dead bodies. But they are also frightening. Horror movies of your past, and religious views make you wonder about those bodies. And worse, if you have people that you have lost, then you are not sure if you should go look at those bodies or stay way. And if you stay away, what kind of respect are you showing. Yet, if you go to the bodies, what can you do?

FEAR ABOUT ELECTRICAL THINGS - After a tsunami hits, the power is out. You look around, and think, nothing is working. But electrical cables and wires are hanging everywhere. Your instinct makes you think that at least one of those wires will be live. Or how can they just shut off one of those wires. Or what happens if one of those wires are touching water, than happens to be connected to a puddle that you are standing in. And so, you nearly feel paralyzed about walking around, for fear that any move you make will electrocute you.

THE GOSSIP that happens is amazing. When all cell phones are knocked out, or jammed, no one knows who to believe. In the 72 hours after the SE Asia tsunami, people were walking around the destruction near the beach. And suddenly, everyone would just start to run. Everyone would run inland. And then you were faced with the dilemma. You had hear that no more tsunamis were coming. Yet, surely, someone had heard something. If you ran, then you ran in illogical fear. If you stayed, then you might not be seeing what someone else was seeing. At least 3-4 times when this happened, you would ask, "who said something was coming…" And often, the answer was "The Police." Yet no one knew which police. Perhaps it was a one policeman who said, "We have to be careful" - and that message was transferred multiple times until it was repeated as "Run!" Or perhaps it was some well meaning policeman trying to keep order on the beach, and so he simply thought it was a better method to say, "Another tsunami might be coming."

I would imagine the same thing is happening in Japan. But they have so much more to deal with. They have had tens of aftershocks. They have hear explosions. And now, they have rumors and realities of nuclear power plants melting down. The fear of the next destruction must be so high.

YOU WONDER IF ANYONE KNOWS. For the 24-78 hours, you wonder if the rest of the world know. When you are cut off from television and cell phones and electricity, you just wonder. You know that some help is starting to come around. But you get this feeling inside of you that, "If people really knew the level of devastation, they would be coming in with food and helicopters and ambulances." But when you look around, the rest of the world does not seem urgent. So perhaps, they don't really know. But then again, your perspective of what is urgent is so skewed that it is impossible to even trust your own reality.

FOOD AND DRINK. You really aren't hungry. At least in your mind. But your stomach begins to grumble. And because you can't think about the big things, you begin to wonder about food. And water. Every bottle of water - every packet of food becomes an instant treasure. And you know that without power, everything will begin to spoil quickly.

In Phuket, about 12 hours after the last of the big waves, we sent scavenger crews out to raid minibars on the hotel beaches. We sent them for water and softdrinks. They returned with little water, softdrinks and alcohol. And even then, you are having this odd moral dilemma in your own brain If you take things from a washed out hotel room, are you stealing? Do the rules of stealing change when you are just trying to find food and drink? Are you only making things worse?

THE SMELL - Within 24 hours, something bad begins to happen. Decay starts to set in. And the sell comes. It comes from decaying plantlife that has washed ashore. It comes from fishes from the sea that were swept in with the wave, but not taken away on the return to the sea. It comes from rotting food. And animals. And people. In Phuket, the smell started in pretty quickly, because the temperatures were in the 80+ degree F. range. As you would walk by piles of debris, a strong smell would come from beneath. And you walked on quickly, fearing what might really be under that pile of rubble. The other thing you could also smell - and see - were oil and gasoline slicks. Whether it was from cars or heating oil or tankers - there seemed to be a sheet of oil on the water and ground around you. Which then made your mind wonder, "Will that all start on fire?"

THE BUGS follow the decay. In Thailand, as well as in Japan, they spray much and often for mosquitoes. Once the small puddles of water pooled, the bugs followed. And then you became very concerned of the diseases you might get from those bugs.

CRYING BABIES - I can remember that so many children were crying. They would cry non-stop. If the parents were in shock, then children are just confused. And they are disrupted. There is not way they can make sense of what is going on. They want their normalcy. They want a family member they may not be able to have. They want sleep. And yet, they are denied it. Instead, they look around and see adults crying. And they are confused. And so they just cry and cry and cry.

FITS OF CRYING FOR ADULTS. Most of the time, you are just trying to think of the next moment. But for individuals who have lost things - all they can grasp is how much in life they have just lost. Likely, theh are missing at least one family member. And gone is their home, their possessions, Their home. Their car. Realization begins to set in. You have lost everything. Memories. Homes. Livelihood. People. Neighbors. And your emotions are all over the place. You go from being thankful to be alive to the realization of what you have lost. And you cry for both. You cry to yourself. You cry on the arms of shoulders of people around you. You just cry.

SADNESS FOR THE YOUNG AND THE OLD - There is a gnawing feeling that you don't want to accept. You look around, and realize that there are not many young. And many old. And you instinctively know that it is because they are gone. They didn't make it.

AND YOU WONDER IF YOU COULD HAVE DONE MORE - after awhile, while sitting in shock, you begin to wonder what else you could have done. Whom else you could have saved. Could you have screamed louder. Grabbed more people? Run faster?

SURVIVOR LISTS become an obsession. You become desperate to know about the people you are missing. You just hope - pray - that they are somewhere else. And then the rumors begin about the survivor lists. You hear about locations where people are gathering You here there are long lists of names and you know - just know - that the people you are missing are on those lists. You say you will go find those lists. But then you sit down again, feeling paralyzed to do so.

COMMERCE BECOMES CONFUSING - If a store has survived, then it is a prized place because it might have food and water. And so families and employees go there to guard the supplies. But then people start to show up - needing and wanting food. Yet, for most, items like money and credit cards are gone. And so, for shop keepers - they are torn between if they should offer food or really only sell it.

HOW DO YOU HELP?

Well - those are only a few of the emotions that people feel in the hours after a tsunami. I have not visited them in so many years - seven to be exact. But they are all still there. They are real memories. And seeing the paces and destruction of the people on the coast North shores of Japan, I see in their eyes that they are feeling it too.

For Japan, the culture of organization and preparation adds to the complexity. In a culture where everything is so prepared and organized and calm, I am sure things are even more overwhelming than ever.

What can you do? Just understand. If you meet someone who has gone through the tsunami, have patience. When they are ready to talk, they will talk. If you are a survivor, and are ready to share you story, share it here for others to read.

And lastly, just hug your loved ones tonight!

Surviving a Tsunami - reflections on the Japan and SE Asia Tsunami

2011-03-12T08:45:00.001+08:00

Gil Gross of San Francisco KGO Radio interviews Rick Von Feldt, Tsunami Survivor on what it was like being in a Tsunami. They discuss their perspectives on the Japan tsunami, being a survivor and what it felt like to be in the Phuket Thailand Tsunami.

Von Feldt was on the Patong Bay Beach on December 26, 2004 when the SE Asian tsunami hit the coasts of Thailand.

This slide presentation , with audio of the interview includes some of the pictures he took hours after the December 26 tsunami.

RADIO INTERVIEW BEING IN A TSUNAMI from Rick Von Feldt

Our hearts go out to the people of Japan and Pacific for the 8.4 Earthquake and Tsunami

2011-03-11T16:00:00.001+08:00

Another amazing disaster has hit Asia, when an 8.4 earthquake triggered a 10 meter (30 feet) tsunami on the coasts of Japan. Our concern goes out to the people of Japan and other countries affected by the tsunami.

Survival of a Tennis Player (Survivor K. Pasupathi)

2011-01-28T03:01:00.002+08:00

Matthew Rader heard first hand about the dramatic survival of K. Pasupathi. Recently, Matthew, a photographer from Dallas, Texas was one of 6 members to be picked to go to a state in south India called Tamil Nadu through a Rotary exchange program called the Group Study Exchange (GSE).

(Photo by Matthew T. Rader. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved).

During our trip the six visitors visited many Rotary clubs and members of them. They learned of the city, and the effects of economy and nature. Including the Tsunami. One of the cities he visited was a coastal city called Karaikal, in Pondicherry, India. There a group of Rotarians invited them to have lunch at a small restaurant on the beach which they quickly found out was one of the places that was hit hard by the tsunami.

While at lunch Rader heard the story of K. Pasupathi. He told his story how how he and friends had been on that beach playing tennis when the tsunami hit. Rader was fascinated by the story. He asked Pasupathi if he would show him the spots from his Tsunami story. He graciously agreed and the friendship began.

You can read the story that Mathew Rader recorded of K. Pasupathi of Karaikal here.

For dramatic footage of when the first or second wave hit Karaikal, see this video.
It looks "calm and orderly," but what the story does not tell is how the wave continued to swell and then suck back everything it caught.

And to see the complete progression of how the waves came in at Kanayakumari, this video of 6-7 minutes will show you the full effect. Pay careful attention to the 4 minute mark. Manakkudi a few kilometers west of Kanayakumari where the beach elevation is very low with a wide and shallow estuary, the destruction was terrible. All the four spans of a newly constructed bridge across Manakkudi 'Kayal' were dislodged and thrown more than 70 metres upstream by the surging tsunami waves. At Manakkudi the waves were six metre high, whereas further north near Alapujha they were 1 to 1.5 m high. A very good description about what happened is written by VK Joshi in his article, "When the sea paid obeisance to Kanyakumari"

"Hereafter Movie" brings the Tsunami closer to life than ever before

2010-10-22T15:47:00.000+08:00

I knew that one day, someone would get close to bringing the emotion of the 2004 tsunami to life. It appears that Clint Eastwood has done just that in the movie to be released this week called "Hereafter." I will plan to see the movie in the next couple of weeks, but of course, with much intrepidation. For many survivors, who choose to see it, it will be the closes to ever reliving the horrific day. I will update the bottom of this blog on thoughts in a couple of weeks. Let me know what you think if you are reading this - and have seen the movie.

- Rick

Here is what the press is saying...

"Eastwood tackles tsunami in Hereafter..."

"...a ferociously authentic depiction of a tsunami disaster. He was coming to it fresh as an audience member. And after being subjected to its full cinematic impact, he found himself marvelling that Eastwood had brought off a film like this - complete with challenging special effects - in his 80th year."

"That whole CGI Thing - Clint kind of just plowed into it with utter confidence," Damon says. "And that sequence is incredible."

" the tsunami that is featured in hereafter is indeed an F/X generated simulation of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that pounded Indonesia…."

"… With an opening scene that depicts the destructive spirit of a naturally-occurring tsunami, Hereafter might have one of the most disturbing beginnings ever filmed by any director - not just Eastwood. The danger is immediate and brutal and poignantly realistic – with remarkable special effects provided by Scanline VFX – that absolutely douses the viewer with the rushing water of that gigantic wave...."

"... The movie begins in 2004 with Thailand's awful tsunami which killed thousands of people. It's a gripping horrific sequence""

" It’s nothing if not daring to begin a movie with its most remarkable sequence. In fact, the opening of Hereafter — a vivid depiction of the tsunami that struck Thailand in 2004 — is one of the most amazing sequences of the year, a gripping combination of special effects and speeding camera work that hits the screen with tidal force..."

Here are notes from the Warner Motion Picture production site:

That dichotomy is never more apparent than in the tsunami sequence, which would involve location shooting in the town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. ``We considered a lot of different places to shoot that sequence, Lorenz notes. ``We needed a sort of alleyway that led to the beach, where people could run up to get away from the wave. Front Street on Maui just made the most sense for that.

To capture the moment when Cécile de France and a small child are caught in the massive wave, Stern and Campanelli put cameras on surfboards and took them out into the water, followed by Eastwood himself. ``I'd not seen Clint jump in the water before, but it's pretty typical of his directing style, says Lorenz. ``He wants to get right in there and be a part of it, so he can make sure he gets what he wants and be able to point the camera in every direction.

``We were amazed, Kennedy remembers. ``I mean, the water was such that the waves were quite big. It was almost impossible to keep the camera on the little surfboard. And Clint just dove in, pulled himself up on the boat, checked the camera, then went back into the water with everybody. Rob and I were standing comfortably on shore with no thought in our minds of going into the water, she smiles, adding, ``but Clint and the cast and camera crew were in there getting the shot. It was pretty remarkable on all fronts.

De France was excited to shoot the sequence in the ocean. ``I think Clint likes to stick with reality, she says. ``He wants people to feel close to his characters, and as an actress, it was thrilling for me to do my own stunts in the water.

``I have never been in a tsunami, though my son was in Thailand when the big 2004 tsunami happened, and I talked to a lot of people who were there, says Eastwood. ``A lot of people photographed it, and you could see that it was devastating.

To create the wave itself, Michael Owens and his team did reference the tragic events of 2004, looking at documentary footage and stills, and adding in elements that would reflect the intimacy of Marie's point of view. ``It's a complicated sequence because Clint was not presenting it how you'd see it on the news, says editor Joel Cox, who has worked with Eastwood for 35 years, and, along with Gary Roach, edited ``Hereafter. ``We were trying to create it based on what people say they've seen and experienced-something that most people have never experienced in life. All the shots and effects are in service of creating, through Marie, an idea of what it's like to live through a tsunami, and specific to the story, to die in the water, and then come back.

The complex sequence was built from components captured on the beach at Lahaina, as well as footage captured in the UK, at Pinewood Studio's massive tank. ``Clint always shoots on practical locations whenever possible, and from a visual effects perspective, that presents challenges but also helps maintain a strong basis in reality, says visual effects supervisor Michael Owens. ``In this case, we were able to shoot Cécile in the tanks, in front of a green screen, at the mercy of water canons and whirlpools swirling around her, to give a real, palpable sense of what her character goes through.

Owens, working with visual effects house Scanline, utilized laser scans of all the elements-from the beach, to the actors, to the debris caught in the tsunami-to create a digital model in which the devastating wave could be created.

``It's really quite something, says Eastwood. ``To depict that, to recreate that, is very, very difficult, and water is particularly difficult to do, but we had to do it that way. You also had to have some computer generated material in order to really tell the story we're trying to tell, and Michael did a great job of making that wave real.

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE TSUNAMI

2009-12-26T16:08:00.000+08:00

December 26, 2009

THE FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE TSUNAMI

It is the end of the day. Of just another day to most. But for a few thousand people – perhaps even ten thousand people around the world, this day is not just an ordinary day. For many of us, we are taking the day to mourn losses of family or friends. And at the same time, we are also celebrating our lives. Both in the same day. Both on the anniversary of when a tsunami struck in southeast and south Asia in 2004.

It is a confusing day for many people. For those in the region, it is a day of walking silently to the water. To offer prayers and thoughts and sadness and thanks – perhaps all in one breath – to something or someone that we felt responsible for the day.

For a small group of us, not living in or traveling anymore to Asia, it becomes a day of mixed emotion. How do we think about the day? How do we commemorate.

For the last four years, I have made it a point to tell people about my day. I have spent the day, sometimes alone, thinking about that fateful day in 2004. I spent time writing emails to other survivors. Some were new friends made through the website. Others were people who literally stood side by side with me – watching the waves come and go – taking life with it each time – five years ago.

But today was the five year anniversary. Should I do something special? Should I stay home and mourn? Should I send out an email to friends and family, reminding them of the day, lest they forget?

But not today. Not on the five year anniversary. From this day on, it becomes a personal day for many of us. Today, instead of CNN talking about tsunami anniversaries, they moved on to other tragedies – or perhaps avoided tragedies of a potential terrorist aboard a plane from Amsterdam to the Detroit. But that is a good thing. It is time to move on – so that this day is not longer a press day – and instead, becomes an intimate reminder, based upon what each individual needs the day to be!

In years past, I have reserved this day after Christmas as a reflection day. I would mark the time of the earthquake. The time of the first wave. And then of the second, even more deadly wave. I would read through my journals of the day. I would look at the pictures of devastation. I would read all of the survivor stories at the website www.phutkettsunami.blogspot.com.

It was a day to reflect. And wonder. And mourn. And just be in the moment.

But this year, a confusing activity happened. A long lost friend invited me out for beers and dinner. I had not seen him in a long time, and he was in the middle of a career change.

Should I politely decline, by telling him it was my “memory day?”

But a voice in side of me, told me it was more important to be in the now – and to move on. I want to preserve the memories of the day. But a simple anniversary – a day marking an event – should not be a deciding factor to living the more important day.

I spend the evening today, having beers, listening to his strife of career change. I tried to be as present as possible. A few times, a fleeting thought of, “well, you think you had it bad – you should feel the mourning of a few people around the world…”

But I didn’t.

I was tempted a few times to casually work the topic into the discussion: “And oh, yeah, by the way, do you know what I am commemorating today?”

But over the years, I have realized that that question or comment leads very quickly into a deadend discussion.

“Oh, someone might comment. That is right. How do you feel?” Or they might ask, “Wow – are you ok?”

But no answer can really help the situation. Nor will it make them or you feel any better.

It happened. Then. And today is now. And memory and loss and thinking, now five years later, is simply personal.

This evening, after I returned home from the beer and food with the friend, I went to my Yahoo headlines. I suspected to see something like, “Survivors commemorate the five year anniversary off the Tsunami…” But instead, the headlines read, “Nigerian man charged in Christmas airliner attack” and “Ferry sinks in Philippines..” Should I wonder why there is not a headline about an event five years ago that killed over 200,00 people? Or should I be ok that the world has moved on – and focuses on the news today and now?

As I talked today to a few other survivors, many felt the same sentiment. To us – it is an emotional memory. To the rest of the world, it is a moment in time – a regret – a sadness. And yet, another moment in time.”

That is ok. And perhaps, five years later, that is ok. Perhaps that is how it should be. Perhaps on a five year anniversary – it is time to draw the emotions away from the press – and the crowds, and make it a personal reflection – memory – emotion for each of us personally.

None of my family or friends sent me a note on the anniversary today. And for the first time, I didn’t send them a note. Tell anyone in person. Or let is casually slip out. Today – it was my day. And a day of my fellow survivors.

And perhaps that is a good thing on a five year anniversary!

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2009-12-26T04:57:00.000+08:00

LINKS ABOUT THE FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY:

Thousands attend memorial services across Asia to mark 2004 tsunami

Are we angry at the sea?

Tsunami Victims remembered (MSNBC article)

Memorial services held across Asia in remembrance of 216,000 victims. BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Next to gentle seas, survivors, friends and family remembered the fury of the Indian Ocean tsunami that swept away more than 200,000 people in 12 countries one year ago Monday and laid waste to entire communities in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history…

SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI: Stories of Hope

2009-12-23T10:06:00.001+08:00

Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope highlights the resilience of communities in the face of catastrophe.

It features the stories of four people from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Sweden whose lives were transformed by the worst natural disaster in living memory. The documentary shows the crucial (but often underreported) role that those affected by crises play in their own recovery.

The documentary has been created by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to pay tribute to survivors.

Watch the VIDEO HERE:

YOU TUBE VIDE: Surviving The Tsuanmi

What were you doing on DECEMBER 26, 2004 - FIve years ago?

2009-12-23T09:47:00.003+08:00

www.phukettsunami.blogspot.comOn 26 December 2004, while most of us were enjoying Christmas at home, on the other side of the world people were fighting for their lives.

An earthquake registering 9 on the Richter Scale struck off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on Boxing Day morning, 2004. It triggered tidal waves up to 30 feet high that swept into coastal villages and seaside resorts.

The earthquake was felt as far away as Bangladesh, and the resulting tsunami was so powerful it killed more than 225,000 people in eleven countries.

Watch this video to learn about the BRITISH RED CROSS campaign:
WHAT WERE YOU DOING ON DECEMBER 26?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLAINfwVNgs

Decisions for Recovery: Rebuilding after the Boxing Day tsunami
http://www.recoveringafuture.org.uk/

American Samoa Wave

2009-10-02T18:42:00.001+08:00

The FBI on Friday released video footage showing waves rushing in and violently tossing cars and trucks in a parking lot as a deadly tsunami struckAmerican Samoa last week.

The dramatic video was taken on the morning of Sept. 29 from a stationary security camera at the FBI office in Pago Pago. The video shows about a dozen cars, ranging from an SUV to a Volkswagen Beetle, being thrown around like whitewater rafts.

The two-minute clip also shows three people walking in the parking lot shortly before the wave struck. One man runs quickly in the opposite direction less than 30 seconds before the water enters the scene. More....

SAMOA SURVIVOR ERICA WALES

2009-10-01T19:17:00.002+08:00

Erica Wales, a Peace Corps volunteer in the village of Salesatele, said the earthquake woke her up early yesterday morning.The 23-year-old, who has lived in Samoa since June last year and works as a marine protection officer with the Peace Corps, said she was about 15 metres from the beach when the waves hit. She is blogging from Samoa and provides her story:

I’m lucky to be alive

I’m sure most of you have heard about the earthquake and tsunami that hit Samoa by now and am wondering how I’m doing. Well, here’s the story:

I was sleeping when the 8.0 earthquake hit. My house started shaking and things were falling off shelves. Books fell down, the phone mounted on my wall fell down, cans of food fell…I’m smart enough to know when things start falling it is probably wise to get out. So grabbed my phone and left my room. The shaking lasted a long time too, at least a minute. I texted a good friend here with the message of “shit that was big” when it was over. She agreed. About that time I got a call from the Peace Corps medical officer that I should probably move inland because the possibility of a tsunami. So I grabbed an ie and left.

I was walking on the road which parallels the beach when I noticed something wasn’t right. I could see structures like rocks and coral which I have never seen above water, not even at the lowest of low tides. This didn’t bode well. Then I noticed the really odd wave action, something just wasn’t right. I had just turned the corner of the road and was now headed inland, versus parallel to the beach as I had been just one minute before, when the waves hit the beach and surged up the road. At this point I started running, as did my village. As I was running I could hear the water surging up the river, tearing trees down.

I got up to the main road where most everyone was. The matai were directing everyone to head to Siuniu, the village inland. I could see the look of panic and worry as parents asked where their kids were, for they were headed to the primary school which is near me. The matai were organized and knew where to direct the parents to in order to find their kids. I went up to Siuniu and waited with my village. At this point we were getting reports of a school in Poutasi (a few villages to the west) collapsing and killing three kids. Everyone was on phones, calling relatives and friends in neighboring villages, trying to find out what was going on. Reports came that 50 people in Poutasi were dead, buried in the sand. A boy in neighboring Salani died. And 15 in Aleipata were dead. As far as I know at this point, no one in my village died. We are lucky.

Then I got a report that my house and another were destroyed. I wanted to go and see if this was true, but I knew to stay. I waited a few hours then went to see what the damage was. Sure enough, my house was flattened. The tsunami ripped the house from its foundation and deposited it 10 feet in front of the house, collapsed beyond repair. I could see all of my stuff waterlogged and muddy. I’m not sure what can be salvaged. I’m going back tomorrow to find out what I can still use, but I know most things will be trashed.

While that is unfortunate, at least it was just my house and not my home. The other family I feel bad for because it was their home. I had stuff there which will be expensive to replace, but it wasn’t everything in the world I owned, just everything I Samoa I owned. Most of my stuff is still back in the US. I feel bad for the other family who truly lost everything. I feel really bad about the three computers I had in my house for the school. I don’t think those will be salvaged, but another Peace Corps Volunteer already told me she would donate two to my school, so I’m happy about that. I also am upset that I don’t know where my dog is. I saw her after the earthquake, and then don’t know where she went. I hope she is ok. Animals are smarter than humans in many ways, so she probably left before I did, but I’m still worried. I hope I find her.

The Peace Corps Office came out and drove me to Apia. I could see the damage in the villages as I passed. Poutasi looks pretty bad; boats are inland, houses devastated, and the school collapsed. Their village is pretty flat on the seaward side, so the wave did quite a bit of damage. The district hospital there looked like it was spared, might have water damage though. As we were driving over Cross Island Road, many cars were headed south to help clean up and try to find their family.

Once in Apia, small aftershocks could still be felt throughout the day. Around 5:30 pm the tsunami sirens went off. Everyone headed up the mountains carrying what they could. It turned out to be a false alarm, but better safe than sorry. Most businesses were closed as people went to help.

Report is over 80 here are dead. If you want to help, go here.

I want to say thank you to all my fellow PCVs. I don’t think my phone was quite for five minutes yesterday morning. Everyone wanted to see if I was ok; thanks, makes me feel loved. When I got to Apia, a bunch of people offered up their house and everyone wanted to know what they could do to help. I appreciate the support guys. You guys are awesome! Also to everyone who posted on facebook and sent me e-mails, thanks for your support as well. And finally to Teuila; I was awake after the earthquake but not enough awake to be thinking about a tsunami. If she hadn’t called right after the quake stopped, I probably would have been at my house. If I had left my house just a minute later…well, yeah.

I gave a written eyewitness account to Sydney Morning Herald and a phone interview to NY Daily News. Here’s the link for the NY article:

And the Sydney article:

So that is all I know for now. I’m off to buy some new clothes because I have the clothes on my back and one spare. I’ll keep you posted on what goes on.

SAMOA, Sumatra and Indonesia Tsunami and Earthquake Survivors

2009-10-01T18:51:00.004+08:00

EARTHQUAKES in Indonesia and Sumatra
TSUNAMI in Samoa and American Samoa

Our hearts, sympathy and prayers go out to the survivors of the earthquakes hitting Indonesia and Sumatra, as well as the tsunami that hit Samoa and American Samoa on Tuesday. In Samoa and American Samoa, at least 140 people died after a magnitude 8.0 quake struck at dawn Tuesday, sending four waves, each 15 to 20 feet high. The earthquake that struck western Indonesia on Wednesday killed at least 529 people, more than half of them in the coastal Sumatran city of Padang, according to news reports. Thousands more were believed dead, said Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari, including many trapped in an estimated 500 buildings that toppled or were damaged in the magnitude 7.6 quake.

The downtown area of Fagatogo, a town of 3,000 on the shore of Pago Pago Harbor in American Samoa, is submerged by seawater after a massive tsunami flattened villages and swept cars and people out to sea. Triggered by a powerful underwater earthquake, four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile inland. Read more at ABC
here: STORY

SURVIVOR STORIES from SAMOA

Our hearts go out to the Samoa, Sumatra and Indonesia survivors…

SURVIVOR JOHN NEWTON
"The earthquake itself was terrifying," said John Newton, 66, of American Samoa. "Then the tsunami came just minutes after. The force it came with was just overwhelming. It destroyed everything in its path." Newton said a friend in a remote part of the island had died in the disaster. "I don't think anyone here will be untouched by this," he said. Wooden structures were toppled and the contents of buildings were swept away. Cars were overturned and roads strewn with debris. The tsunami knocked out one of two power plants in American Samoa, and communications throughout the islands were spotty. More at the LATIMES

SURVIVOR DENNIS FAMUI
Dennis Famui said he walked outside his hillside home immediately after the earth shook and looked out at the bay at the center of American Samoa's main island. "A couple minutes after the earthquake, you could see the water draw back and expose the reef and part of the docks," said Famui, 45. "Then the water came back and tossed cars and container boxes and pushed them right back into the bay." He said the tsunami wasn't a wave that could be spotted from a distance, but a mass of water that rose with steady, destructive force as it neared.
More at the LATIMES

SAMOA SURVIVOR PICTURES

LATIMES

First photos from American Samoa Earthquake Tsunami

SURVIVOR JOHN BLACKER:
TASMANIAN tsunami survivor John Blacker, now recovering in a Samoan hospital, has told of his ordeal. An Australian survivor of the Samoa tsunami clung to a palm tree while waves battered him and his wife before she was ripped from his arms and drowned. John Blacker — who cannot swim — said the waves tossed him around and pounded him with debris for "what seemed like forever", the Hobart Mercury reports. More NEWS HERE.

SURVIVOR JOEY CUMMINGS
Joey Cummings Watched Water Rise to His 2nd Story Window Just Minutes after Quake Rocked South Pacific.

SURVIVOR TOGIOLA TULAFONO
American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono said the effects of the tsunami would touch everyone. "I don't think anybody is going to be spared in this disaster," he said.
Eni Faleomavaega, who represents American Samoa in the US Congress, said the waves had "literally wiped out all the low-lying areas in the Samoan islands". He said the tsunami had struck too quickly for a full evacuation. Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni told AAP that the ocean had receded, heralding the oncoming tsunami, "within five minutes" of the quake. "With the location and the intensity... I don't know if anything better could have been done."

We invite MORE SAMOA SURVIVORS to share their personal stories.

INTERACTIVE TSUNAMI WEBSITE from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

2009-08-12T07:29:00.005+08:00

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Coast Ocean Institute has sponsored the creation of a INTERACTIVE TSUNAMI website. The goal of the website it to help people learn about tsunami’s, gather tips to prepare for, and survive a tsunami, understand tsunami related science research, and to find out about actual historic tsunami’s. The site features three survivors of the Southeast Asian tsunami, including myself, Dwayne Medows and Piyanooch Ananpakadee. Dwayne was on vacation in Khoa Lak. Piyanooch was in Phuket, working at the Bangkok hospital. You can find the INTERACTIVE SITE HERE: http://www.whoi.edu/home/interactive/tsunami/

And you can find the interviews on the site by clicking on the SURVIVING A TSUNAMI TAB, and by clicking on SURVIVOR STORIES.

SURVIVOR: Aaron le Boutillier

2009-04-26T03:35:00.004+08:00

Aaron le Boutillier is a tsunami survivor. He was on the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi where had been working for many years. He has published a book about his experiences on the morning of December 26. “And Then One Morning” is his account of the day that changed the lives of many around the world.

For anyone caught up in the tsunami, however, it was all over in a matter of minutes. They were either alive or dead. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives while millions who survived had to deal with the tragedy in countless ways.

And Then One Morning encapsulates the expat life on a small tropical island and introduces the reader to the main characters who either survived or perished in the tsunami. Chief amongst these is the Oswald family. Heinz Oswald spent eighteen years developing a successful dive business on Phi Phi. Aaron visited Phi Phi that Christmas to help Heinz and his family move to Phuket on the afternoon of December 26. That move never happened.Hours after the tsunami, Aaron found Heinz’s wife and four year old son alive. There is relief and surprise as other characters are found alive. But for the next two weeks there is the trauma of the search for Heinz and his two daughters.

And Then One Morning captures Aaron’s growth from a care-free twenty-two year old into a successful business owner in Singapore by the time of the tsunami. Following the tsunami he took responsibility to help the survivors of the Oswald family as well as other friends from the island.

Four years on there are still people suffering from the tsunami in a multitude of ways. Aaron has decided that the author royalties from the sale of his book should go to helping some of those still traumatised by the disaster. For each book sold, Aaron gets 12% of the sale price, and turns around and donates it back to charities in Thailand to continue to help.

The first donation of monies from Big Wave Publications was on the 24th October 2008 where with the help of all that attended and the Phuket Lions club we raised 30,000 Baht for the Sadtree Orphanage. The second donation will also be for 30,000 Baht to the Nilubon school in December. The monies will be generated from the Singapore book launch which has kindly been sponsored by the Grand Hyatt Singapore and their F.O.R.C.E program.

Learn more about Aaron here:
http://www.bigwavepublications.com/index.html

I encourage you to purchase the book. To give you a taste of the writing – you can read the chapters of his story here on the survivors site:

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak (what happened in those initial minutes when the first wave hit).

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below (in a brief second – how do you process what is happening to you?)

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World (Saving people!)

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire (How could this happen?)

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

Read more survivor stories at: TSUNAMI SURVIVOR SITE

CHAPTER 16: A Washing Machine Springs a Leak

2009-04-26T02:02:00.001+08:00

A Washing Machine Springs a Leak

This is an excerpt from Tsunami survivor Aaron Le Boutillier in his book “And Then One Morning.” For anyone caught up in the tsunami, however, it was all over in a matter of minutes. They were either alive or dead. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives while millions who survived had to deal with the tragedy in countless ways. Aaron continues to live and work in Southeast Asia. The proceeds of his book continue to make a difference in Thailand. Read more about Aaron and his book here:

Aaron Le Boutillier
http://phukettsunami.blogspot.com/2009/04/survivor-aaron-le-boutillier.html

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak

At about ten the next morning I was in that comfortable slumber zone that is somewhere between being fully awake and fully asleep. Neither here nor there. I was vaguely aware of what was happening around me. I could recall that it had been a normal evening last night and I had no reason to leap out of bed. I turned over and listened to the sounds of the village. After last night I was a long way from being fully awake.

Suddenly my brain started informing me that there was a lot of commotion outside in the form of children screaming. I woke briefly and started thinking that someone was playing a joke and scaring the kids. Idiots. In my morning haze I made out that the sounds were similar to that of children playing and screaming. As I turned over, something in my mind alerted me to the fact that the screaming children sounded genuine almost making me scared to listen to them. At least my brain told me these were children. After all, why would adults be screaming like that? My memory drifted back to the bizarre worry I had last night about a fire. I could not smell any burning. But the screaming continued and now I could hear it was mixed with another noise that was building. A crunching, grinding and increasingly roaring noise. Half awake and half asleep I suddenly became very much awake. It would be almost another two days before I would sleep again.

As I finally awoke I heard in Thai, screams of wing wing which means ‘run, run’ and total confusion and panic. Mixed in with the screams was the sound of feet pounding on the sand street outside my window. I jumped out of bed and pushed open my wooden window. I looked down on to the street. Straight away I saw Heinz with Anna under his arms and Tina holding on to his hand. I shouted down to him and Heinz looked at me for a brief second with eyes that will haunt me till the day I die.

They were the eyes of pure animal fear, eyes of pure animal panic and eyes of utter human disbelief. My throat instantly dried up and I found myself with a tear in the corner of my eye as I stared at the total panic and uncertainty that had gripped the so-certain Heinz as he stood staring at what I was about to see. At first I saw a small rivulet of water trickling down the street and started thinking: someone’s washing machine had flooded.

Heinz turned with his two daughters and ran into his shop. He pulled down the metal shutters to the shop behind him. I looked down the street and could only see people, children, tourists, Thais running, “wing wing run run” they screamed. In Thai, in English, in Swedish, in German, in Danish, in Hebrew, in Russian. I turned from the window to run out of my bedroom and on to the open staircase leading down to the street. I felt trapped but already I knew that going down those stairs was not an option. My first thought was that there was a mad man with a gun or a knife running down the street and randomly hitting out to anyone that got in his way. But I had not heard any gunshots, yet. I ran on to the staircase expecting to see a group of mad psychotic terrorists. I had not heard an explosion, yet. Just a thousand or more screams in tens of different languages. A United Nations of fear and panic.

I got half way down the stairs when I could clearly see the reason for panic. It had nothing do with Mister Osama and his compatriots. The trickle of water from the leaky washing machine had now risen slightly in the past few seconds from first opening my bedroom window. It was now hurtling down the street at an alarming speed. It was literally being pumped towards me, or so it seemed, by some unseen power behind. As I looked down towards Mama Restaurant and the main street I could see two walls of water surging around Angelo’s restaurant where we had enjoyed a magical Christmas Day evening the night before. The two walls of water converged on the corner shop.

The travel agent on the opposite side of the main street imploded and exploded all in one go as it seemed to be morphing into a lump of contorted wood and corrugated iron interspersed with the shattering sound of glass. In that split second I turned my head to the side and watched for maybe one second as another wall of water and the imploded/exploded remains of the building came surging towards me. The sound of the power of water, the crunching and folding of buildings and the screams of desperation, the panic of people being overtaken by this wall mesmerized me as I stood there. I was like a rabbit sat looking at the headlights.

The wall of water and mixed up rubble and mixed up people hit my flimsy staircase within a second or two. I instinctively ran back up the stairs towards my room. Really, there was nowhere else to run. The sound was deafening and the shrills and panic of fear were all around me. It was the sound of solid buildings being crushed and wooden pillars groaning under the immense force, the power, of the water that were most unusual and new to me. As I got to the top of the staircase I saw the couple in the room next to me standing outside their door completely frozen and embracing each other.

I ran straight down the narrow corridor and started panicking, heavily. There was nowhere to go. I looked back and knew that if the wall of water chose to come up the wooden staircase, the route I had just come along, then it was goodbye Aaron. That was a quick life.

The water was rushing through the narrow opening to the street and being funnelled at great force into the stair well as it rushed down faster than any human could run. I started jumping up and banging on the ceiling and the walls in a desperate attempt to find an escape route that would at least take me further up than this level which was now perilously close to the rising wall of water. It was becoming a futile attempt. I started screaming at the couple who continued to stand and hold each other.

“Fuck. We’re going to die. Fuck.”

I repeated what was already seemingly obvious.

I must have run up and down the narrow corridor for a few seconds before giving up the futile search and going back to the open staircase. The water was now surging around my thighs and I pushed both my hands against the side of the narrow wooden corridor and looked at the incredible but terrifying sight in front of me. The level of the water was now just below my line of sight. The current out in the street was incredible and the sound of buildings collapsing around me was deafening. The screams were now impossible to hear over the thunderous roar of the water and in that brief moment I knew this was it.

I was going to die. For the first time in my life I had resigned myself to dying. No more tomorrows, no more dreams, no more anything. It was goodbye Banana Boat Man. Goodbye to his close friend Mister Bum Boil. Goodbye Mum, goodbye Dad. Whoosh, that was Aaron Le Boutillier. Remember him? He had some grand plans for making a mint before he retired at forty. And then one day a leaking washing machine drowned him. What a way to go.

I stood in the corridor, tensioned against the walls and prepared myself that any second the current would finally sweep my legs from me and I would join the torrent of mangled wood, concrete, glass and corrugated roofing and thrashing, panic-driven humans that was still rushing passed me and on to wherever it was next headed.

My immediate thought in those brief seconds were of my Mum. I apologized to her in my mind for not being quick or smart enough to outwit this disaster and also for the pain I would put her in over the next few weeks. I closed my eyes and could feel my position and stability weakening as the water surged more.

The inherent ability a human, any animal really, has to survive is incredible. We’ve all read about animals that are stuck in traps or snares that will chew their way through a leg to release themselves. A few years ago I recall reading about a rock-climber who had an accident where he ended up with his arm trapped under a huge boulder on a lonely mountain far from anybody. After about the third day when he realised he was not going to be found and that he was also not going to live too much longer he got a small knife and slowly but surely he amputated his arm and freed himself. He lived to tell the tale.

Well anybody who has read this far will now know that I lived to tell the tale! However, I have no recollection of what happened in those next few seconds. I did not slowly and methodically amputate an arm. Or any other appendage for that matter. One second I was braced between the two corridor walls and feeling my grip sliding away as the waters continued to claw at my body. The next second I was on a balcony. The distance between where I had been standing and next door was minimal but I must have just leaped across. I then found myself running across the balcony towards the roof of the post office which was directly in front of the Phi Phi Hotel. From the balcony there was a small rise in height to the next roof top which I clambered up on. Within a few seconds I had gone from accepting death to being perched on the apex of a corrugated roof two buildings down from my original position.

As I sat perched on the roof as nonchalantly as if this was an everyday happening for Aaron the Roof Percher, I was overcome with an enormous explosion of relief.

“ I’m alive. I am alive. I do not believe it.”

For now. I had no clue what had happened and at that particular moment as I was perched on my corrugated iron roof I was not really trying to analyse what had gone on and what might yet go on. I was alive. Well alive. For now.

READ MORE

Read more from Aaron Le Boutillier’ s book, “And Then One Morning” here:

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak
(what happened in those initial minutes when the first wave hit).

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below
(in a brief second – how do you process what is happening to you?)

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World
(Saving people!)

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire
(How could this happen?)

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

Read more survivor stories at: TSUNAMI SURVIVOR SITE

CHAPTER 17: Rumbles Down Below

2009-04-26T02:01:00.000+08:00

RUMBLES DOWN BELOW

This is an excerpt from Tsunami survivor Aaron Le Boutillier in his book “And Then One Morning.” For anyone caught up in the tsunami, however, it was all over in a matter of minutes. They were either alive or dead. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives while millions who survived had to deal with the tragedy in countless ways. Aaron continues to live and work in Southeast Asia. The proceeds of his book continue to make a difference in Thailand. Read more about Aaron and his book here:

Aaron Le Boutillier
http://phukettsunami.blogspot.com/2009/04/survivor-aaron-le-boutillier.html

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below

We live on a generally solid little planet that provides us with everything we need. We have enough oxygen to breath. But not enough to fry the atmosphere every time we strike a match. We get just enough heat from the sun to make sure that our Little Planet’s water does not all turn to ice. But we don’t get so much heat that all of our Little Planet’s precious water gets boiled away as steam. Astronomers hunting for life in the Universe are looking for a planet like ours, around a star like ours. And at roughly the same distance as ours. They call this the Goldilocks Zone. Everything is just right. But our Little Planet is not quite as quiet as we generally understand. It is certainly not an inert lump of rock. Deep within, the pressures and heat turn rocks and metals to liquid.

I learned all about the powers within our Little Planet when I did my geography O Level at sixteen. However, that tiny little part of the Little Planet that I come from, the island called Jersey, seemed to be, to me, an especially quiet and innocuous corner of our Little Planet. Most of the dramatic stuff I learned in our Geography lessons does not happen on Jersey. We don’t have a waterfall like Niagara or the Victoria Falls where billions of gallons of water flow over every hour or so. Jersey does not have volcanoes and earthquakes – the two dramatic events that helped to show that a crackpot idea called Continental Drift really is real. These things happen elsewhere. Jersey doesn’t drift. It’s always been where it is.

I recall my Geography teacher in the eighties teaching us all about Continental Drift. And he was man enough to admit that when he was our age, indeed when he was learning Geography at university, he had learned that Continental Drift was a joke theory. Not to be taken seriously. Something to have a snigger about.

But he now freely admitted to all us wide-eyed sixteen year olds that continents move about.

“But Sir. We’re a titchy little island, Sir. What about Jersey, Sir? Do we move about?

The Theory of Continental Drift could be used to explain why South America and Africa looked like parts of a jig-saw puzzle. It was not some coincidence. They really had been joined at one time. And then they drifted apart and made the Atlantic Ocean. And, especially weird for a lad from Jersey, Continental Drift helped to explain how an island called India could make a head-on collision with Asia about fifty million years ago. My Geography teacher taught us that the Himalaya was living proof of that massive collision. Scrunched up like the bonnet of a car after it had run into a largely immoveable object such as a brick wall at high speed.

“Sir, will Jersey smash into France? Or will it smash into England? I hope it’s England, Sir.”

A few years later I sat amazed in front of the television as Sir David Attenborough struggled out of breath high up in the Himalaya as he showed fossils of marine animals.

Marine fossils high up in the mountains? Excuse me.

I learned that South America and Africa have been torn apart by the previously crackpot Theory of Continental Drift. And I learned that the Himalayan Mountains, the tallest on our Little Planet, were created by the high-speed collision of a large island called India with the even larger lump of land called continental Asia. However, elsewhere on our generally friendly Little Planet there are other areas where continents are not being torn apart or being rammed into each other. These are areas where continents are rubbing along-side each other.

A sport I am particularly keen on is wrestling/grappling. And I hasten to add I do Real Wrestling. I do not mean the farce where over-muscled, steroid-compromised show-biz characters wearing ridiculous face-paint and garish costumes, and going by dramatic names like Gentleman Jackhammer Jim slam each other around while semi-naked porn-star wanna-be’s urge them on. No, wrestling in its purest form involves two powerful, equally matched forces coming together. Tremendous amounts of energy between two human beings gets expended while the two forces come together. But then one gives. And suddenly it is all over. There is a winner and there is a loser.

I had grown up with dramatic stories showing us all how wild and hugely uncertain our Little Planet can really be. Over thirty five thousand human beings got a sudden but very final (for them) taste of that violence one morning in late August, 1883. A little island, smaller than Jersey and only slightly bigger than Phi Phi, decided to evaporate. Of course, islands don’t evaporate. Not really. But in one almighty explosion, several billion tonnes of Krakatoa went somewhere else. That is evaporation by my understanding.

We now know that much of it sank into the big hole that opened up beneath it which was created by the explosive powers way down deep beneath the ocean waves. The rest of it ended up in the upper atmosphere of our Little Planet and spent the next few years giving us all spectacular sunsets. But thirty five thousand people never got to be dazzled by these spectacular sunsets. They awoke one morning and went about their usual daily routine. Stopped dramatically by a wall of water that was so high it left a Dutch warship several miles inland and over a hundred feet above the level of the sea. The twenty eight sailors on that warship never knew what hit them. Neither did the other thirty five thousand or so people that died that morning.

And so it was on December 26, 2004. The day of the Big Wave.

READ MORE

Read more from Aaron Le Boutillier’ s book, “And Then One Morning” here:

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak (what happened in those initial minutes when the first wave hit).

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below(in a brief second – how do you process what is happening to you?)

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World (Saving people!)

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire(How could this happen?)

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

Read more survivor stories at: TSUNAMI SURVIVOR SITE

CHAPTER 18: Hey Ma, I'm on top of the World

2009-04-26T02:00:00.000+08:00

HEY MA - I'M ON TOP OF THE WORLD

This is an excerpt from Tsunami survivor Aaron Le Boutillier in his book “And Then One Morning.” For anyone caught up in the tsunami, however, it was all over in a matter of minutes. They were either alive or dead. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives while millions who survived had to deal with the tragedy in countless ways. Aaron continues to live and work in Southeast Asia. The proceeds of his book continue to make a difference in Thailand. Read more about Aaron and his book here:

Aaron Le Boutillier
http://phukettsunami.blogspot.com/2009/04/survivor-aaron-le-boutillier.html

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World

I could see that if I ran across the apex of the roof I would arrive at one of the Phi Phi Hotel balconies which with one small jump I could climb over and on to. I now had my path of further escape clearly mapped out. However, instead of taking this, I simply sat there mesmerized by what had happened. I still could not, or would not, comprehend it.

From my new vantage point I could see into the living area of Heinz’s former apartment above Moskito. And I could see the new manager Christophe looking out of the window at the carnage. I shouted to him to see if Heinz and the family were with him. He shrugged his shoulders in a Gaelic sort of way and shook his head and lifted his hands up in desperation.

My heart sank. They were not with him and yet I had seen Heinz run with the girls back into the shop. He had pulled down the shutters. Surely he would then have made for the stairs and climbed upward and away from the water. I felt a sudden sickening of the stomach but reassured myself that if anyone was going to survive this thing, it would be Heinz. And he would have the girls with him. And what of Oiy and Little Dino? I had not seen them at all. Just Heinz and the girls. Where were they?

This was the first time in my life that I had heard terror. Sheer terror expressed en masse in so many different languages. And all at once. And a few seconds before I had made my modest little contribution as I ran up and down the corridor screaming at a couple who were holding on to each other with all the love in the World they had for each other that we, meaning certainly me and them, were going to die.

As I sat on the roof my ears grew accustomed to the awful and terrifying wailing noises. What was most disturbing were the screams of people from all directions, shouts for help and just screams of undecipherable words in many languages (Thai, English, Swedish, German, Danish, Japanese, Kohrean – you name it, they screamed it) of sheer panic and desperation. As I scanned over the roof tops I saw semi-naked and naked bodies scrambling on to other roof tops. I saw people hanging on to telephone poles. I saw people hanging on to signage. Anything that was available as the current rushed passed them. Some people were holding on to the hands of others less fortunate who were struggling against the waters. It seemed to have no intention of stopping. A relentlessly rises mass of the stuff. Some people were just lying on the roof tops with obvious injuries made apparent by the strange way their limbs were placed.

After a few more seconds, I saw JP’s head as he leaned out of one of his windows on the top floor of Fatty’s. This made the corner of the street on to the local market area. We both looked at each other. There was no need for words. We were both quite simply just happy to see each other. He was alive. I was alive. Thank God, or the Gods, for that. Looking down the street I also saw Angelo with his daughter who had been visiting him from France. He had a group of his staff on the balcony next to what now remained of his restaurant. They were alive. I was alive. Thank God, or the Gods, for that. And then I thought of Heinz. And I thought of Oiy. And I thought of Tina. And I thought of Anna. And I thought of Little Dino.

I was on Phi Phi because of these five people. Sure, it was great to see JP, Angelo, and other friends I had made over the years. But I had come to Phi Phi primarily to see Heinz and to help him and his family move to Phuket. To start a new life. The end of eighteen year on Phi Phi and the start of a whole new adventure.

As I looked at his wrecked dive shop I found myself thinking how he and his family had moved from their upstairs apartment to downstairs so that Christophe and his girlfriend could get established. I thought about how Oiy had argued about going upstairs to use the bathroom. How I remember a million years ago seeing Heinz with Anna and Tina down in the street below me. Where the fuck were they now? They had not gone upstairs and joined Christophe. Why not?

By this stage, the water was starting to recede. It must have been only a few minutes that the water level stayed as high as it did. But it still took a long long time for ten or fifteen feet of water to drain away. Water now seemed to be rushing in the opposite direction as it drained down the street just as quick as it had rushed up it.

I jumped down from my roof-top perch on to the balcony that I had run across and tried to peer into Moskito dive shop. The metal shutter that I saw Heinz pull down was completely ripped off and I could see directly into the carnage that had been his pride and joy. The water at this stage was about head height in the street and there was the faintest hint of a voice mumbling, trying to cry out but failing miserably, within the carnage inside. My first thought was that this was Oiy or one of the daughters as the voice was quite clearly female.

I walked along the balcony and started climbing down the external staircase. I stopped half way where the water line was and once again peered in to Moskito where I could make out the shape of a woman pinned under the wooden partition that had once separated the main shop from the retail shop next door. The partition had collapsed and one of the wooden struts had fallen across the woman and had trapped her. I could see she was alive but she was having trouble breathing as the level of the water rushing back passed her was just below her jaw line. She was choking on water that was splashing in to her mouth. She could not move because of the wreckage pinning her in place. I had no idea who she was. She looked Thai and I could only assume that she was Oiy.

I would be lying if I wrote about how I dived in to the torrent of water and swam across the street to save her. I couldn’t. I was still too shocked at what had happened and what was still happening around me. I hesitated. I just stared at the woman. I knew that I wanted to do something. But I was afraid of the water which was now racing down the lane while slowly reducing its depth. And I was afraid of the hidden sharp, jagged bits of rubble that were being swept along with in it.

I walked slowly further down the stairs until my feet were immersed in the flow of water. There was a washing machine which had been lodged against the staircase with a very long rubber hose. It was being swirled around in the current of debris. I pulled the hose and wrapped it around my wrist and slowly lowered myself into the water. By this stage the water was only waist high and as my feet touched the ground I could feel the force of the water pulling me off-balance. It was strong but I was confident I could reach across the narrow street to Moskito. After all, on an island with no cars the widest of streets are little more than narrow lanes.

I stood there for maybe a minute or so. After all, I was safe. I was still uncertain as to going over. The woman was struggling but she was keeping her head above the water, which was now receding at last. My heart was thumping and her increasingly feeble moans for help were making me anxious. As I looked around I remember seeing a group of people on the roofs and on the balcony of the hotel. They all looked like they were under a spell. They just stared all around themselves. Some were half dressed in tattered clothes. Others were just kneeling and hugging their bodies. Staring blankly, almost catatonic.

I made the plunge. I started wading across the street and instantly knew I was doing the right thing. It didn’t take long to reach the front of the shop. I don’t know how, but when I reached the shop the water level was different and I found myself swimming rather forcibly into Moskito. The woman seemed completely unresponsive at my sudden appearance. She was bleeding from her forehead and apart from a few stands of clothing she was naked. Her clothes had been torn from her body by the force of the water. Seeing where she was pinned I was really amazed she was still alive.

I could make out that she was not Oiy. Oiy was a slender woman while this was another large-framed lady who I could not recognize. I learned later that she was a friend of the owner of the Thai restaurant opposite Moskito who had been washed into the shop as the water retreated.

As I swam in I became very concerned at the noises still coming from all directions. It was a groaning of wooden beams and I could clearly see that most of the internal walls of Moskito had collapsed. I was acutely aware that the whole ceiling could come tumbling down on top of me at any moment. As I looked up at the ceiling I saw drops of water forming and splashing down all around me. I have a vivid memory of treading water for a few seconds as if I was in cave and being momentarily hypnotized by the strange environment I was in. To see the familiar dive shop swirling with rubble, fax machines and computers and an almost naked Thai lady who was barely able to speak trapped under rubble was unsettling. This was not Thailand.

I reached the woman and could clearly see she was badly injured as well as suffering from shock. The wood came away quite easily but my problem was with her. It was at this stage I first heard a phrase that would be repeated many times over the next hour or more.

“The second wave.”

“There’s another surge.”

This echoed into the shop from outside. I was starting to panic once again. When I look back I think I have panicked once or twice in some thirty years or more. I had now panicked several times in as many minutes. My immediate thought was:

“Now come on God. Give me a break will you. This really isn’t playing the game you know.”

I had to really breathe deep to stay in there with her and help her out. My first instinct was to get the hell out the shop and back to the safety of the external staircase opposite. Sanctuary. However, I managed to pull, rather ungracefully, the woman from the rubble so she was now in my arms as I was treading water. She didn’t struggle or try and hit me, as I had been taught may happen on various diving rescue courses. She was just incapable of helping herself. She was not hysterical, just frozen with fear and unable to move. Like so many others, she was in a state of catatonia.

“Chuay eng.”

I pleaded with her.

“Chuay eng.”

I repeated, the Thai phrase for ‘help yourself’.

She finally started to move and it wasn’t long before we had reached the entrance to the shop and managed to wade across the street. By this time there were two Thais standing on the staircase of what had been my Guesthouse and they reached out and grabbed a hand each and pulled her out of the water and on to the staircase. I pulled myself up and seeing she was apparently safe I returned my attention to looking after Number One. I ran back on to the roof apex (my sanctuary from the first wave) in front of the hotel and gingerly walked across the apex to the balcony. I was to repeat this walk many times over the next hour or so.

I could see once again that Angelo was standing on the balcony down the street and he could clearly see my path to the Phi Phi Hotel. The water was still running down the street, but was by this stage only knee height. People were still shouting about the second wave and Angelo indicated to me that he wanted to get his daughter and staff to the relative safety of the more solid, concrete Phi Phi Hotel. But he was now obviously concerned with the references to more waves. After a few seconds of screaming to each other across the roof-tops we threw caution to the wind and met in the street. We started evacuating people from his restaurant up the stairs of my former guesthouse, to the balcony across, and up on to the apex of the roof.

This became the only route to the hotel for people trapped in this area and we assisted around thirty people to the hotel this way. JP and his family also appeared at this time. JP and I gave each other a hug but said nothing. The main problems with this route was that the climb from the balcony to the apex was just a little too high for most so I sat on the end of the roof and physically pulled people up. As I had walked across the roof several times already I had come to realize that you had to walk directly on the apex or on the nails that connected the corrugated roofing to the struts of the roof structure. Anywhere else and you would simply risk falling through. How nobody fell through I will never know. That roof bent and flexed under the weight of many people that morning and I had my stomach in my mouth on more than one occasion. But it held.

READ MORE

Read more from Aaron Le Boutillier’ s book, “And Then One Morning” here:

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak (what happened in those initial minutes when the first wave hit).

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below(in a brief second – how do you process what is happening to you?)

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World (Saving people!)

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire(How could this happen?)

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

Read more survivor stories at: TSUNAMI SURVIVOR SITE

CHAPTER 19: On The Edge of the Ring of Fire

2009-04-26T01:59:00.000+08:00

ON THE EDGE OF THE RING OF FIRE

This is an excerpt from Tsunami survivor Aaron Le Boutillier in his book “And Then One Morning.” For anyone caught up in the tsunami, however, it was all over in a matter of minutes. They were either alive or dead. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives while millions who survived had to deal with the tragedy in countless ways. Aaron continues to live and work in Southeast Asia. The proceeds of his book continue to make a difference in Thailand. Read more about Aaron and his book here:

Aaron Le Boutillier
http://phukettsunami.blogspot.com/2009/04/survivor-aaron-le-boutillier.html

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire

The seventeen thousand islands that make up Indonesia represent one of the most volcanically and earthquake active regions on our Little Planet. Only Japan and maybe New Zealand come close. A major reason for this is that two massive continental plates are engaged in the Mother of All Wrestling bouts. And this is the brute force wrestling that I engage in. Not the Face-Paint, Sparkly Outfits and Porno Star Variety. Neither of these two continental masses is prepared to give an inch. They are involved in a fifty million year struggle. Every second of every day these massive forces are rubbing up against each other. And they will probably still be at this in another fifty million years when mankind is just another blip in the fossil record of evolution.

Back in those far-off geography lessons I recall learning about Mister Richter and his earthquake scale. In those far-off days it was fixed between one and ten. This always confused me.

“Sir, how could Mister Richter be so sure there would never be an earthquake bigger than ten?”

In researching for this book some twenty years after I had those lessons I have now learned that the Richter Scale has been modified to be an open-ended scale. Maybe if I had continued with geology we could have been discussing Le Boutillier’s Open-ended Modification of the Richter Scale. I could live with that small piece of fame. But instead, I drifted off to Phi Phi and allowed somebody else that glory.

And I found myself involved in one of the biggest earthquakes that had hit our Little Planet in recorded history.

READ MORE

Read more from Aaron Le Boutillier’ s book, “And Then One Morning” here:

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak (what happened in those initial minutes when the first wave hit).

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below(in a brief second – how do you process what is happening to you?)

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World (Saving people!)

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire(How could this happen?)

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

Read more survivor stories at: TSUNAMI SURVIVOR SITE

CHAPTER 20: Phi Phi Hotel Becomes a Sanctuary

2009-04-26T01:58:00.000+08:00

This is an excerpt from Tsunami survivor Aaron Le Boutillier in his book “And Then One Morning.” For anyone caught up in the tsunami, however, it was all over in a matter of minutes. They were either alive or dead. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives while millions who survived had to deal with the tragedy in countless ways. Aaron continues to live and work in Southeast Asia. The proceeds of his book continue to make a difference in Thailand. Read more about Aaron and his book here:

Aaron Le Boutillier
http://phukettsunami.blogspot.com/2009/04/survivor-aaron-le-boutillier.html

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

After helping people across the roof I finally made my way to the Phi Phi Hotel balcony. My bare feet were now blistering thanks to the metal roof. And I desperately needed water. The apex of the roof was scorching hot in the late morning tropical sun and I was still only dressed in my underpants which I had been wearing when I jumped out of bed on hearing those first terrifying screams. Many a naked or semi-naked person had also been rudely awakened by this still incomprehensible event. Others, like the Thai lady I first helped, had merely had their clothes ripped from their bodies by the force of the water.

By the time I had hauled myself on to the solid concrete balcony of the Phi Phi Hotel I was 100% charged up with adrenalin. It was beginning to flow out of my ears. I had found my escape path in case of the second surge that people were still talking about. And I had now decided that I would go back down on to the street and look for my friends, Heinz and Oiy. There were many people on the balcony of the Phi Phi Hotel that I climbed into and as I made my way into the hotel I could clearly see that seemingly everyone on the island had been making their way across roof tops to the hotel and that many had run here when the initial wave had washed in. There were bodies everywhere. But, thankfully, they were all alive. A quick glance around told me that Heinz and Oiy and the kids were not here.

As I made way down the corridors of the second floor there were people everywhere administering first aid and using pieces of clothing to tie off wounds. I saw one guy sitting in a room with a mass of clothing tightly wrapped around his head covering a horrific injury. His face was swollen out of proportion and he was just staring into space. The wave had only just receded. But already somebody had rescued this guy and had dressed his horrific wounds as best they could. He was alive and clearly looked as if he would live now. He just sat and stared ahead. Incapable of doing anything. I wanted to say:

“You’re alive, you’re safe. Relax.”

But these words of comfort seemed fatuous. I left him to his own silent contemplation. What might he have seen and experienced? Was he on a honeymoon and seen his wife torn from his fingers? If so, then my words would not have helped. Would not have soothed. My words would have been like God twisting the knife. Thanks God.

But this man’s life had been saved by someone’s unacknowledged and selfless act. This was not the first I saw. It was not the last. And in all modesty I do believe that I did my small share. We all did. In the next few hours thousand of quietly unacknowledged and selfless acts of humanity were carried out.

As I turned left down another corridor I saw a group of Scandinavians attempting to knock down the doors on both sides of the corridor. They explained that there were people outside in the wash and we could possibly try and haul them out of the rubble soup and on to the balconies if we could get into the rooms. One of them picked up a small wooden table that was outside every third room door and smashed it against the door. But to no avail.

I was still heavily charged with adrenaline and what happened next is one of my most bizarre memories of that day. Dressed only in my underpants I took the table from the guy and for some reason I decided to aim my strike against the door lock. With over fifteen years of martial arts experience and enough adrenalin in my body to subdue an ox and his cart, I lifted the table high and swung it firmly into the lock with an almighty roar that would’ve made John Rambo go weak at the knees.

Three things happened in very quick succession. Firstly, the lock went flying into the room and hit the balcony window behind allowing the door to swing open. Secondly the table shattered in my hands and thirdly a group of Scandinavians and a Jersey boy dressed in his underpants all looked very surprised. In that instant I was no longer Banana Boat Man. I was no longer Roof Top Percher Man. I had become Doorlock Destroyer.

They rushed into the room and I proceeded to run down the corridor smashing every door with my newly discovered superhuman powers. I had the underpants. All that was missing was the cape. I suspect there is a group of Scandinavians out there who will vividly remember a half naked, shaven-headed madman running down the corridor smashing doors open with assorted decorative corridor tables.

When I reached the bottom of the corridor, we opened a door and a group of us ran into the room and opened a balcony that was facing in the direction of the local market. We could see that this was almost completely demolished and there were people on the roof of the opposite building in panic. There were also a group of about ten people who had been washed on to a ledge just below us and were desperately pleading for us to pull them on to the balcony. They wanted a share of our sanctuary also.

As I made my way through the hotel I met one young guy in his twenties who was a born leader and was starting to take control. Somebody needed to. We both instinctively climbed over the balcony on to a small ledge below. I leaned against the wall and he grabbed my hand and leant over the edge and managed to pull each terrified person up. The process took several minutes and I remember being impressed at the guy’s bravery and strength. The drop from the edge was high enough to kill him and many of the people he was pulling up were not making it easy for him.

I had been very lucky with the Thai woman. She had just flopped back and let me do the moving. Far worse is when people are panicked and fighting. Many were panicking and giving the poor guy a wriggling dead weight to pull up. However, he managed it. People can and will rally together to do extraordinary things. People in the room were now raiding the fridges and each person pulled over was immediately either given a bottle of water or someone was there to dress their wounds with torn bed linen. One of the few luxury hotels on Koh Phi Phi had now become a battle-field hospital.

Having rescued another clutch of people, I walked out of the room with this guy and we decided that we needed to coordinate a strategy to deal with the mass panic and hysteria that was now in full swing. We both agreed that everyone would be here for at least a night and that two major concerns would be fresh water for drinking and for first aid. As the wall of water had subsided dramatically at this stage we rounded up some volunteers to start bringing water into the hotel and to get as much medication and bandaging as we could from the various pharmacies dotted along the main street.

At the mention of pharmacies I suddenly remembered Mister Bum Boil. Of course, he had not gone away. But he had suddenly gone from being a huge pain in the…… posterior. To being an unimportant minor annoyance. Not even that really. I knew that there was a pharmacy and a 7-11 within a few feet of the main entrance to the Phi Phi Hotel. That is where I directed our medical search team.

As we walked down the stairs there were groups of people at each level. We explained we were getting water and medical supplies and asked for people to help. We also asked if anyone was looking after any badly wounded that might need specifics. People from all around shouted requests and it was apparent that we needed bandaging and iodine or anything to curb the infections which in the end was to plague thousands of people all over Asia for days and weeks and months to come. It was still only about an hour after the washing machine had sprung its leak.

Cuts were going to be left to fester for hours and sometimes days before they got the correct medication. As a lot of the cuts were due to rusty sheets of corrugated roofing slicing through the water and debris, wounds were deep and needed cleaning urgently.

As I walked out of the hotel we had around five guys to help us. I looked up at the hotel and there were literally hundreds of anxious faces leaning over the balconies staring at us. Some were shouting about the second tsunami. Many were just blank. The Second Wave Devotees must have thought we were mad. And must’ve thought this was the last that would be seen of us.

READ MORE

Read more from Aaron Le Boutillier’ s book, “And Then One Morning” here:

Chapter 16 - A Washing Machine Springs a Leak (what happened in those initial minutes when the first wave hit).

Chapter 17 - Rumbles down below(in a brief second – how do you process what is happening to you?)

Chapter 18 - Hey Ma, I’m on top of the World (Saving people!)

Chapter 19 – On the Edge of the Ring of Fire(How could this happen?)

Chapter 20 – Phi Phi Hotel Becomes Sanctuary

Read more survivor stories at: TSUNAMI SURVIVOR SITE

Survivor Fiona Callanan faces her own tsunami challenge by helping others

2008-09-05T06:25:00.006+08:00

Survivor Fiona Callanan continues to make a difference by focusing on helping tsunami amputee victims by climbing mountains with her bike. She is raising funds to help the Cambodia Trust organization bring prosthetics to tsunami stricken locations.

SOME ADDITIONAL LINKS:
For pictures of the work that Fiona is doing with Cambodia Trust - go here.

Mountains to climb
A victim of the 2004 tsunami is on a drive to help less fortunate amputees, writes Katie Lau
Published September 3, 2008

To see the link of this article, written by Katie Lau of the Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, go here: MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB

At first glance, Fiona Callanan’s wardrobe seems typical of an active professional, crammed with suits, skirts, jeans and sportswear. But closer inspection reveals items others are unlikely to have: prosthetic limbs of various styles and materials to suit different occasions.

“I’ve got four in here. One for the gym and cycling, one for running, one for going to the beach in. Of course, I want to look good too, so there’s one for skirts and high heels,” she says, giggling.

The British solicitor’s interest in prostheses is more than a matter of appearances. Callanan, 31, who lost her right leg as a result of injuries she suffered when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck southern Thailand on Boxing Day 2004, wants to help less fortunate amputees receive the kind of care she did.

She was taken initially to a spartan hospital in the Thai beach resort of Krabi where she was holidaying, and was struck by the contrasting fates of the rich and poor as she awaited an airlift to a better facility.

(picture: Fiona Callanan takes on the Andes next week to raise more funds for amputees. And (below) Callanan (front) training in England with friends Sam and Sarah Spinney in preparation for 2006’s Ho Chi Minh City to Angkor Wat challenge. Photos credit: Samantha Sin/Fiona Callanan)

“I hadn’t realised how lucky I was to be born in a rich country. Before my parents and friends found me, I was on my own and there was a Thai guy in the bed next to me … I couldn’t sit up and see him, but I knew his skull was broken because he got smashed against some rocks,” she says. “And I thought, what’s wrong with me compared to him? I’m being flown to Bangkok and he’s left there to die just because I’m rich and he’s poor, basically. We’re both human beings. It’s very hard to get over the inequality.” According to survivors’ accounts, many died of infected limbs during the first four days after the tsunami because health personnel were swamped by the scale of the disaster and supplies of medicine and fresh water quickly ran out.

Many foreigners like Callanan were lucky to have received medical attention in time after being quickly flown out, says US businessman Rick von Feldt, who keeps a blog of tsunami survivor stories.

Keen to redress the balance, Callanan and a friend, Sarah Spinney, signed up two years ago to cycle from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat complex – a journey of more than 500km – in aid of the Cambodia Trust. The pair raised £28,000 (HK$390,000) for the British charity, which trains specialists in conflictstruck nations to fit prosthetic limbs and braces at its rehabilitation centres.

“This was the biggest amount of money ever raised for us by a volunteer. It’s staggering,” says Carson Harte, executive director of the trust.

“It’s really difficult to raise funds for our rehabilitation centres as they’re perceived to be less sustainable. A landmine survivor needs a new artificial limb every one to two years, every six months for a growing child. Therefore, the centres need ongoing support to keep going, and this isn’t so attractive to big donors.”

Von Feldt, the businessmanblogger, laments that although a prosthetic limb or brace can make the difference between poverty and self-sufficiency, many people in poor countries cannot benefit. “You don’t see prosthetics on people in places like Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Most have no idea that such a thing is available,” he says. “Prosthetics are seen as too costly and impossible to find.” But as Callanan discovered on her visit to Cambodia, disabled people fitted with prostheses don’t necessarily regain their confidence, dignity and self-sufficiency. Many amputees were given free legs, but left them at home to beg in the streets, she says. “It’s really sad.” Grateful to have been able to resume an active life with hi-tech prostheses, she has continued to campaign for the welfare of amputees in poor countries after moving to Hong Kong three months ago with husband Simon Thorsby, an accountant.

“I want everyone to be as lucky as me,” Callanan says.

Next week, she will embark on another cycling challenge in support of the Cambodia Trust: a 300km expedition in Peru from the ruins of Machu Picchu in the Andes to a jungle town called Atalaya, supported by 20 able-bodied volunteers.

“We’ll start from 11,000 feet [3,358 metres] high up in the mountains and we’ll be camping as well. So it’s nothing like the last time when we could cycle on flat land and stay in hotels and take showers every day,” she says.

With her ready smile and steady strides up a hiking trail for a photo session, Callanan makes overcoming her handicap seem straightforward but it has been a gruelling road to recovery.

“The first months of rehabilitation were long and arduous, especially when I was on crutches and not allowed to get a prosthetic leg for the first six months because my thigh bone was broken,” she says. “I had to endure so much pain.” Her artificial leg didn’t seem much of an improvement at first. “It takes a lot of time to get used to [the prosthetic] and you have to keep changing the sockets because the muscles in your leg waste away quickly [from the inactivity]. It just gets smaller and changes shape,” she says.

Cycling was Callanan’s way to strengthen her leg muscles. “I was not crazy about cycling, but it was the easiest thing to do at the time. I didn’t run until six months after cycling because it requires too much muscle power,” she says.

The daily ride between home and work provided an effective workout and she was soon able to walk properly without pain. Fired up with a new passion, she began setting off on long cross-country rides in England and Spain, and later went to Taiwan and Indochina. Her greatest hurdle as a below-the-knee amputee was to keep her foot on the pedal.

“It’s the little things, like I can’t stop on the right-hand side and I can’t stand up on pedals to gain momentum when I am on a steep slope. Cycling is not so much about skills but endurance,” she says.

“I just have to look ahead a bit more than other people. I’ve learned that the more you try, the more you can anticipate what would happen on the road. For example, if I get dehydrated, the cramps in my knee would be very painful and I avoid that,” she says. Callanan reckons amputees can do almost anything they set their minds to, given the right equipment and if they exercise some common sense. “I tried water skiing, but my leg kept falling off because the water loosens the grip of the suction part. I might try wakeboarding because I can use my left leg more,” she says. “You just have to accept your limits and be sensible and realistic. If you keep testing yourself and pull off something you think is difficult, it can build up your confidence enormously. You have more faith in yourself. “I don’t see myself as disabled. You just live as normally as you can, and don’t let losing your leg be the only thing you’re known for.” It’s a notion Callanan hopes to promote through her charity bike ride in the Andes, which was inspired by others who have triumphed over adversity, including Mark Inglis, the first double amputee to scale Mount Everest. Inglis is just as impressed by Callanan’s optimism and courage. “The really great thing is that she has discovered that we can change the world with our actions and, even better, she has had the humanity and courage to take the first steps to achieving this,” says Inglis, also a patron of the New Zealand branch of the Cambodia Trust. Callanan’s handicap hasn’t dimmed her enjoyment of life. “I’m still a party girl, and I appreciate it more now,” she says. “I love travelling and seeing new things. I haven’t got time to waste and I don’t want anything to stop me because you never know what’s around the corner.”

For details of Fiona Callanan’s charity bike ride, visit www.justgiving.com/fionacallanan
JUSTGIVING.COM

FIVE QUESTIONS ON FRIDAY

2008-08-29T04:52:00.001+08:00

My writing continues with another group of authors. For the next 10 weeks, I am joining 9 other authors as we explore five questions around a topic each week. The authors include:

Andreas Ekstrom, a journalist from the Sydsvenska Dagbladet and blogger at the site: http://www.andreasekstrom.se

Bianca Regina a Psychotherapist from Dresden, Germany.

Bob Riel a travel and culture writer from Tucson, Arizona, and publisher at http://www.rielworld.com.

Brett Battles, author of international best sellers “The Cleaner” and “The Deceived” and soon to be released “Shadow of Betrayal.” Brett is a member of the International Thriller Writers organization, Mystery Writers of America, and is one of the founders of Killer Year (www.killeryear.com). His blog, “A Writer’s Sphere”, can be found at: http://bbattles.blogspot.com/. He is also a member of the group blog Murderati (http://murderati.typepad.com/murderati/) which features several well known mystery and thriller authors.

Eduardo Infante, economist, teacher and blogger at http://eduardoinfante.blogspot.com

Jen Rabold, mother, teacher and researcher on secondary literacy.

Peter Waring, PhD, writer, teacher.

Ramak Siadatan, father and member of generation “X”

Rick Von Feldt, writer, thinker and organizer of FIVE QUESTIONS ON FRIDAY

Sherry Zhang, executive in human resources in Shanghai, China

I would love to have you come and visit our topic discussion at: http://fivequestionsonfriday.blogspot.com/

Rick

3rd ANNIVERSARY - We remember what other want to forget.

2007-12-26T17:31:00.000+08:00

To many people - it seems like yesterday. And yet - the days have creeped by - and it seems like a forever ago. To many who were involved directly or indirectly, I bid you peace and light during this 3rd anniversary of the Tsunami.

For me - this year was a year of moving on. I returned this year to Phuket - for the first time. I walked along the beaches that were invisable for 24 hours during the in and out of the tide. What was surprising was "how much better" everything was than it ever was before. That is the tricky hand of nature, isn't it. It washes away the old - and man takes advantage of the moment - and somehow seems to make it better. At least to man.

At the first year anniversary - people were still in shock - and needed to simply survive.
On the second anniversary - people needed to greive - but also needed to pass beyond the greiving.
On this, the third anniversary - we start to remember. For family and friends who lost someone - it aches. But it also says it is time to move on.

If you are visiting for the first time - don't let people forget. Read through the hundreds of stories and comments in this blog - and remember those who survived. And died.

Peace to all.
Rick

Stories to read for 3rd anniversary:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071226/ts_nm/indonesia_tsunami_dc_5

Video - Tales of the Tsunami. From 60 minutes. Fisherman out on the sea when the tsunami struck:

http://news.yahoo.com/i/2833;_ylt=Am_7ZR8Lk_aUSpk3R8.31Xdg.3QA

Reuter's Photos of 3rd anniversary

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/photoalbum/1198494590.htm

Unicef update on the 3rd anniversary

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-24-02.asp

Asian tsunami survivors pray at mass graves, mosques to mark 3rd anniversary

http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=7088384

Some photo memories at Surfersvillage.com

26 December marks 2nd anniversary of Great Tsunami

http://www.surfersvillage.com/news.asp?Id_news=25500

CALANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - Hundreds of Indonesians prayed at ma

ss graves in Aceh province on Wednesday to remember relatives who died in the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago.

On December 26, 2004, giant waves triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded pulverized villages along Indian Ocean shores, killing or leaving missing about 230,000 people.

Aceh, on the northwestern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, suffered the most, with about 170,000 dead or missing and billions of dollars in losses.

"We pray for the victims that God may accept their good deeds," said Kamal Usman, a survivor in Calang, an area in western Aceh where hundreds of officials and residents prayed at a ceremony to mark the anniversary.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, thousands of factory workers and villagers scrambled to higher ground as sirens blared in a drill to mark the third anniversary of the disaster.

In Ciwandan on the shore of northwestern Java, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono watched the drill to test a tsunami early warning system.

As part of the drill, authorities also tested the response of emergency relief teams to a mock chemical leak in a factory if an 8.5 magnitude quake were to hit the area.

"We hope through this exercise people begin to understand that they live in a tsunami-prone area and know what to do in case of an emergency," said Ami Pramitasari of the research and technology ministry, which led the drill.

Since the tsunami, Indian Ocean countries have installed expensive warning systems and staged periodic evacuation drills to prepare better for another such disaster. Indonesia, situated in a belt of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire," has installed sirens along the coast of quake-prone islands such as Sumatra and Java.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of BRR, the agency charged with rebuilding the Indonesian regions hit by the tsunami, said the reconstruction pace was the fastest in the world.
"There are shortfalls which of course need to be addressed but BRR and all parties that are working in rehabilitating and reconstructing Aceh and Nias have shown significant achievements," he said in a statement.

Mangkusubroto said more than 100,000 homes had been rebuilt in Aceh and another 20,000 were due to be completed by June next year.

2nd ANNIVERSARY - Another year to remember and reflect

2006-12-26T11:53:00.000+08:00

Tuesday, December 26

Good morning everyone. It is Tuesday morning, exactly 2 years later after the "wall of water" changed millions of lives here in Southeast Asia. I am Singapore as I write this, having just returned from Thailand. The day is not as sunny as it was two years ago. Rains fall, flooding much of Indonesia and Southern Malaysia. For them, this year will be remembered as the year of the floods. It seems that boxing day is not a very good day at all for citizens of southeast asia.

This morning, I got up early and headed to the local "teleport" site of CNN to appear for about 5 minutes in an anniversary discussion of the tsunami. It is odd to speak of this, but I continue to do so as part of "my contribution" to keep the memory alive - and to insure that it doesn't become an emotionless picture in a coffee table book. Millions of lives were affected this day two years ago - and today, hearts and souls mourn the loss of the loved ones. Or silently say prayers, as I do, for the realization that we are alive.

If you are in Singapore, there will also be a special edition of a Channel News Asia show called blogtv.sg. It features tech information on blogging and other related activities. I am a guest on the show, and we discuss some of the emotional aftermath of what happened. From around the world, you can watch it live on the internet at the same time at BLOGTV.SG

I continue to look for other survivor stories as a way to document, tell and keep a memory of what has happened. Each week, thousands of readers and students come to the site to read what happened - first hand. If you are a survivor - send me your story!

After seeing the story on CNN this morning, Mark Brandon wrote to me: Hello Rick, Was just on line when you came on CNN. Thought I would send in my story.
Where I stayed ( Patong Beach Bungalow ) our place was totally gutted, just two little cottages left ( I was on top of one ) standing. I saw on CNN a pic of the PBB as they showed a speedboat and I recognise PBB from the bright orange brick tiles.
Did you know that from waves 3- 6 there was someone in that boat, being battered about but luckily was not thrown out. Anyway, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. Mark Brandon

You can read Mark's story below. The boat picture he refered to is one that I took about 18 hours after the tsunami - and is also in the selection of pictures on the website. I belive they showed them on the television show this morning.

Lastly - to fell survivors - I send my love and concern to each of you. In our moments of bitter sweet emotion - both to be thankful for being alive - yet aware of such pain and sorrow from those that did not, I wish you peace on this second anniversary.

Rick
rvonfeldt@Yahoo.com

SURVIVOR: Mark Brandon, Jason Beech and Rick Everett

2006-12-26T11:50:00.000+08:00

Hello Rick,

Was just on line when you came on CNN. Thought I would send in my story.
Where I stayed ( Patong Beach Bungalow ) our place was totally gutted, just two little cottages left ( I was on top of one ) standing.

I saw on CNN a pic of the PBB as they showed a speedboat and I recognise PBB from the bright orange brick tiles.
Did you know that from waves 3- 6 there was someone in that boat, being battered about but luckily was not thrown out.
Anyway, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.

Mark Brandon
Aged 38
Taiwan

My Tsunami Experience

I arrived at Phuket International Airport directly from Taipei, the evening of December 24th, 2004. I was traveling with fellow dive buddy, Jason Beech with another of our gang Rick Everett, joining us the next day. The three of us were booked on a one-week diving cruise around the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea, from December 26 – Jan 2.

We checked into the Patong Beach Bungalow, a small resort named as such, for its beachfront styled bungalows and the fact that it was on the main beach road. I had stayed there the last two times I was in Phuket and I enjoyed its convenient location.

After checking-in and dumping our gear, we went out to celebrate Christmas eve around the Soi Bangla area; pool games, drinks, dinner, a few for the road, then a few more for the road and, basically, Merry Xmas everyone. Saturday was just a lazy day for me. I spent my time on the beach, had a good green chicken curry lunch, not quite the turkey roast, but delicious all the same. Rick checked in around 4pm and we all met up at the Savoey restaurant at 7pm for a lovely lobster thermidor with a Thai salad and some nicely chilled chardonnay.

I think it was around 8am when the earthquake struck. Having just come from Taiwan, where earthquakes occur regularly, this quake was rather a surprise, especially as there are no plate lines around Thailand. So wherever it came from, I knew it was a big one. The whole bungalow shook for a good 30 seconds and this was at ground floor level. I went back to sleep and got up around 9am. Coffee was on my mind, as it is most mornings, and I gave the earthquake no more thought. I got changed into my T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops; picked up my phone, wallet and sunglasses and headed to the resort’s beach restaurant.

I finished breakfast around 9:30am and then went to the reception to check my e-mail. The thought had occurred to me to have a quick swim and wake up a bit, but I didn’t want to go back to the room to get changed; there would be all day to swim, or so I thought.

Behind the main reception desk (which later proved to be a factor in saving one of my friend’s life), a few computers were available for checking e-mail. Luckily, I didn’t have much e-mail and was finished in about 15 minutes. As I got up from the computer desk, I was wondering what to do when I saw people screaming and running past the glass reception doors toward the main beach road (the main road is about 5 meters from the reception area). Someone opened the glass reception door and I stepped out. Immediately, I saw water everywhere. This was, as I understand it now, the first wave and the only warning of what was about to come.

I looked to the left and saw behind what it was from which people were running. It was a massive wave of gray foam moving up in between the bungalows with devastating power and speed. In its wake was a lot of debris and I estimated the wave to be around 3 – 4 meters high. It wasn’t so much the height of the wave, but its crushing power and speed that I remember more vividly; anyway, I didn’t stop to look. I knew immediately what it was and turned to run in the opposite direction, diagonally across the road and up an alley, oblivious to any traffic, as fast as I could, loosing my flip-flops along the way. The alley came to a dead end. There were a few trees around and a small wall, which I thought of climbing over; but the water, up to my thighs at this time, didn’t seem to be getting any higher and had started to recede slightly, so I stayed where I was. I reckon I was about 50 meters inland from the hotel reception area. It was then that I heard the first screams from someone whose child had just fallen through the roof of a small building they had climbed for safety. They were unreachable from where I was standing, but I saw others coming in aid.

The water, from where I stood, was completely black in color. It was hard to believe that this was a tidal wave or tsunami; it was more like all the underground sewage systems had exploded. People were standing around on top of cars, buildings or, like me, out in the open yard wondering what had just happened. I said I thought it was a tidal wave, most probably as a result of the earthquake.

I was concerned for my two mates, Rick and Jason, as I thought they were still sleeping; so, I decided to go back to the hotel. As I walked, I had to be very careful where I placed my feet, as I couldn’t see where I was stepping. I did, on a few occasions, use my hands to clamber over some debris and then slowly slide down on my behind. When I got to the main road I couldn’t believe what I saw. Everything was smashed to pieces; cars were overturned and on top of each other; and shops were completely gutted. The water started getting deeper again as I crossed the main road. It was then that I saw Rick, alive but with lots of cuts all around his legs. We exchanged a few words and I asked if he had seen Jason. Jason’s bungalow was next to mine, but opposite to Rick’s. Rick hadn’t seen him so I went back into the hotel complex. Once inside, and past the reception, again, I couldn’t believe what I saw. All the bungalows, except a few at the back (back being furthest from the beach) were gone; debris was piled up everywhere; all our bungalows and possessions were no more. All sorts of debris, broken furniture, glass, gas canisters, deck chairs, a jet ski, twisted steel, and people’s possessions were everywhere. As I walked past a standing bungalow, about five meters in from the reception area, I saw an elderly chap standing outside, with cuts so deep on his legs that his bone was visible in various parts. He was conscious but in shock. We exchanged a few words of comfort and I left to try to get back to my bungalow.

I realized a few seconds later that getting to my bungalow was going to be next to impossible; there was just too much debris everywhere. It was then that I heard a massive thundering sound and turned in horror, to see once again, another monster of a wave coming in. It was already in the hotel complex, about 20 meters away from where I stood. This wave looked much more menacing (if at all possible) than the earlier one I saw and was completely black in color, as it was no doubt, throwing back in all the dirty water and debris that had receded with the previous waves. This was to be the start of the second set of waves.

From where I stood this time, there was little shelter in front of me and I could not attempt to run back out of reception to the main road. There would not be time; besides, the main road is not where you want to be as the water comes in. Its destructive power will just pick you up and slam you into a wall of debris where shops once stood.

This was my time. Next to me stood a standing bungalow and a large plant. I jumped onto the plant (in a hug like sort of embrace) and scrambled up as high as I could go. The plant started to bend with my momentum carrying me towards the bungalow roof where I got my hands and arms atop of the roof tiles. Pushing off from the plant with my legs, I managed to get half my body on top of the diagonally shaped roof and then crawl up to the top. It seemed to take all my strength to get to the top and I remember a strong feeling come over me that if I didn’t make it to the top I was going to die. It all happened so fast. While I was crawling up, the bungalow was already shaking back and forth, as the water and debris smashed in.

Once on top of the bungalow, I had a very clear and unobstructed view of the next two waves to come. I was aware to lie down in order to disperse my bodyweight the best way possible, the thought of falling through the roof was a very real and horrible thought. It was also then that I saw Jason, about 50 meters behind me, on top of a solid high-rise structure. Through a bit of shouting and hand signals, we exchanged greetings and signaled that we were both OK.

As I lay there looking out, I could see the water receding again and taking out debris very fast. To the left of me, I could also see a speedboat; this was later confirmed to have been the boat outside Rick’s bungalow. Someone had taken refuge in the boat. He must have a story to tell.

I could see no other threatening wave, but then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a wave just to the left of me rise up about 9 meters and dump a lot of water everywhere. It look incredibly menacing and I remember thinking that this was it, but then the wave crumbled and the rush of the water did not have the driving power of the other waves. I saw the wounded chap down below; three other people had joined him; and they were all clinging to some structural part of their bungalow. I saw that they were OK after that last wave, which I think was the fifth one. But within 30 seconds, I saw another wave rolling in. At first, it didn’t look to be as bad as the one that just came and I shouted to the guys below to hang on. What I didn’t realize is that the volume of water and power of this one was to surpass the previous wave immensely. The water rushed up against the people below; first to their waists, then to their chests and then up to their necks. This was to be the last time I saw them; once the water went above their heads, I can only imagine the horror they must have endured. Unable to breath in the dirty black water, with debris no doubt smashing into them, they would have lost their grip and washed away into the main road area.

As I lay there looking out, after what seemed about half an hour since the waves subsided, the ocean still was in a very mean and ugly mood. The tide would still recede a long way and then rise up swiftly. Waves were still rolling in but they seemed to be turning 90 degrees inwards and smashing into themselves. The debris was still being pulled out and then pushed back in, but it seemed to be dispersing over a much wider area. A helicopter was moving up and down the beach line filming all the destruction.

I think it was about 11:30am when I decided to leave the bungalow and get to the more solid structure where Jason and Gail, a lady he had rescued, were sheltering. There was still a lot of water everywhere and I jumped down from the bungalow onto a door, luckily with no protruding nails. I couldn’t see anyone else around just then, but as I exited the complex and got onto the main road, there were other people walking through waist-deep water to get to a safer spot.

Then people on the roofs of buildings started screaming that another wave was coming. This was not true and was to be the first of many false alarms. However, at that time all I could do was run toward the staircase, wading through the water and picking up several scratches along the way, one of them being a deep gash under my big toe, I had run over some structural part of a shop, like a collapsed railing or beam that had a piece of glass embedded and sticking up that cut deeply into my toe.

I got to the building and up to the roof where I was happily reunited with Jason. He hadn’t seen Rick since I saw him last and we didn’t know if he was safe or not.

There were then rumors of another much larger wave on its way in and everyone was to evacuate the area. We all trundled down the staircase, helping people that were injured along the way. Once back on the main road, I fell down a manhole and the water went right above my head. I pulled myself out, thinking how horrible it would be to have been swept away into an underground drain. I saw a pair of shoes float by and quickly got them on my feet, as my right foot was bleeding quite a bit by then. The further inland we walked, the water and damage became less. As we got to dry land and walked toward the hospital, people were just waking up or going about their normal routine with no idea of the devastating events that had just happened and the unfolding catastrophe. We began to feel a bit safer and slowed down a bit, not that we could walk that fast anyway. I had a look at Jason’s leg and knew that one of his deep cuts would need quite a few stitches. Some kind soul came out of a house and gave Jason some antiseptic lotion, which he applied to his leg. I, too, applied some to my foot and we both couldn’t help but scream, as the sting of the pain hit our nerves, but then subsided quickly. Someone gave me a packet of cigarettes that I lavishly ripped open and chain-smoked my way to the hospital.

The hospital was a mess; injured and dead bodies were coming in fast. The whole floor was literally covered with blood as, yet, more cars arrived carrying the injured and dead. People were screaming for their missing loved ones while others screamed out in pain. The local hospital staff was incredible and all of them, plus one European doctor, were so overwhelmed by the drama unfolding, but yet they really maintained their posture and went about helping people in order of prioritized injuries. I will never forget that.

As if by a miracle, while we sat waiting our turn to get treatment, we literally sat next to someone else waiting patiently for his turn, it was Rick. We couldn’t believe it and we all shook hands, relieved to be alive and back together.

We were all treated at the hospital and the next day, made our way to our respective embassies, which had set-up a makeshift camp at the Phuket Town Hall. To get new passports, we needed to get ourselves to Bangkok, which we were able to do, courtesy of the Thai Government laying on free and additional flights. From there, we got our passports the next day and, within 24 hours of that, we were at the airport awaiting our flight home.

Mark Brandon.

SURVIVOR: Alan de Roer and Aurelie Ferrant

2006-12-26T07:23:00.000+08:00

TSUNAMI SURVIVORS
Posted By aureliederoer(18/09/2006 15:28:00)

My boyfriend, Alan de Roer and myself Aurélie Ferrant have just returned from our trip to Thailand. Leaving Port Elizabeth on 15 December 2005 it all started off bad. Our flight (SAA) was delayed…. We were delayed by 30 min in Port Elizabeth and then again…. In Johannesburg we had to wait 5 hours because the air-conditioning had failed on the flight (Cathay Pacific), what made it worse is that they kept us all on board not even giving us water. It was boiling hot inside. After about 3 hours of people arguing and making a fuss they bought water, but the people were still upset and making a fuss they eventually let us off the plane back into the main building, but not saying anything to anyone. Now everyone wondering around the airport terminal, somehow we saw that we must board again on the screen, but no announcements were made, so obviously the plane was delayed more, cause they were looking for all people to get the back on the plane. Eventually… Taking off towards Hong Kong. Then things went on well, it was stunning all the Christmas decorations and everyone having a good spirit, stayed there for about 5 days traveling around the area. Then off to Bangkok, Thailand. Our idea was to spend Christmas on Phuket Island and New Years on Phi Phi Island. Seen as it’s our second time in 1 year going to Thailand we knew all the tricks and knew where to go and how to get around without been caught with the thai scam. The same day arriving in Bangkok we decided to fly on to Phuket Island. Luckily we knew where to go and asked the driver to take us straight to Patong Beach. Somehow by co-incidence we stayed in the same hotel (The Royal Palm Resotel) as the last time we were there. It’s right on the beach front in the middle of Patong Beach. We were both pretty tired from all the traveling so far and took it very easy. Slept late and just did the odd shopping along the beach front. We planned to rent a car and drive around the island, but never got around to it. Then on 25 December 2004 we had a lovely Christmas dinner at the hotel restaurant. We were discussing what we would do the next day. Seen as we wanted to catch up on our tan we planned to spend the day on the beach and rent a jeep the following day. And then move on to Phi Phi Island to spend New Years.

But…..

The following morning 26 December 2005 we both woke up at 8:00am cause it felt like the bed was moving, Alan asked me to stop moving the bed and I thought it was him, but little did we know it was an earthquake. Alan walked to the bathroom and saw how the door was moving and felt the ground move, he then filled up a glass of water and put it on a table to show me that there’s something strange going on, but still not knowing really what it was we fell asleep again, cause we had a late night. Alan was very tempted to go for a jog, cause the weather seemed so good. 2 hours later at 10am I got woken up from screams in the street, we both just thought it’s typical of Thailand cause they always celebrating something. When I tried to look I just saw heads of people running down, but then moving right onto the balcony and looked properly I just saw water coming down the street. At first I thought it was just a freak flood, but was strange cause there was not a cloud in the sky. Then I thought some big pipe must of burst in the street. When I looked down the street I realized the whole ocean is all the way up the street with cars and scooters been swept up and people running for their life. That’s when we both panicked abit. People in the hotel were shouting for everyone to run upstairs. Grabbing the camera and video camcorder, we ran up the stairs with all the other people rushing up. Once upstairs on the roof we could see what had happened. There was water all over. Cars hooters were stuck so there was this non-stop noise. People screaming for help. People clinging onto trees for dear life. People cut open from glass and debris lying around. At that time we still were not sure what had happened or caused all of this. We tried to ask the local thai people if they had this before and they hadn’t a clue themselves what was happening. I heard someone then say to his wife in german that they saw a big wave come and said that it seemed like it was not going to break like a normal wave. That’s when all the people started running and screaming. All the people on the roof were so edgy and agitated, no one knew where to stand or what to do. We wanted to help the people that were hurt down at the bottom, but were so worried cause there was just so much water everywhere. There was so much noise of all sorts. All the power and phone lines were cut so we couldn’t find help or find out what the problem is, what is happening. On all the roofs around us there were people crying, screaming for their kids, brother, sisters, husbands, wives, families. Some were still struggling to get onto roofs. A young couple struggled, but managed to help each other to get onto a roof. There were Thai guys that had climbed up trees, holding onto gutters and whatever else there was around them. A lady came up onto our roof, crying cause she has lost her husband whilst running, we tried to keep her calm and helping her with her cuts she got. There were so many helpful people on our roof. A lot of them helped calm down a lot of us. A Swedish man made a lot of us stress, when he wanted to start jumping from one roof to another to get away he kept saying it’s never going to stop, we must just run for our lives. There was just so much stress and worry all around us. Alan just told me to ignore them and we do our own thing.

There were some very small waves after the first one, but nothing major, so a lot of people thought it was all over and went downstairs to take a look around. But, little did they know that more waves were coming. Exactly 1 hour after the first wave another wave had come through. The water was pulled back and the whole beach was uncovered. You could see cars and rubble where the water was pulling back. This time apparently slightly bigger seen as we missed the first wave and more powerful. At this time you think is this it, is this the end your life, will this ever stop. Thinking of how family and friends must feel and probably watching all of this on TV not knowing if we still alive. Dying to phone them to let them know we fine, but just cant. But then again still not sure if we will be fine. We tried to get the attention of the people that were below to warn them another wave is coming, but not all of them could heard us, cause so much noise was around. A tourist man could not get away on time and just held onto a tree for dear life. The wave came towards him and he just held on. The water then pulled back again, but he somehow managed to hold on the tree and survived. He managed to walk away with arms cut open. Then some more smaller waves again, some were slightly more powerful than the first time round. We saw bodies float by along with cars, jet skies and a whole lot of clothing, souvenirs, beach chairs and whatever else that was in the waves way. Then it got all quite again. And again people went down to take a look thinking it was all over….

The lady that thought she lost her husband some how by co-incidence arrived on our roof, she felt to relieved. He was lucky he didn’t have a scratch on him, he was on the building next door, but just couldn’t get to her. The whole time we didn’t know what to do, cause a lot of people managed to work their way up, but we didn’t want take a chance been swept away or loose our luggage. Especially the power the water had, it picked up cars, bakkies, taxis, scooters etc. Anything that was in its way. While waiting for things to settle we watched down on the local thai’s trying to save as much of their things as they can that was still in their shops. They’d run up and down the road with crates. At the same time some foreigners were stealing things, it was unbelievable, they were searching through peoples wallets, bags, jackets, etc to steal money. We even saw them with passports and they just threw it back into the water. It was really disappointing to see this after all we’ve just been through. Instead of rather helping they just made people more upset. Things seemed to have calmed down, but then again….

The water pulled back so far it was unbelievable. There was a cruise ship that we just saw lift up and disappear in the wave and then we really thought this is it, this waves seems way too big. Everyone panicked, we felt ice cold and empty inside. We were screaming at the people downstairs to run up. Some didn’t hear us. The ones stealing somehow heard us, which we wished they didn't, cause they threw away so many valuable information that people could of used to find people. The third wave came rolling in so fast. We all moved towards the back of the hotel scared the building would collapse. By this time the feelings and thoughts going through your mind is unbearable. Feeling sick inside from all the shock. Not knowing if u must run away. A helicopter was circling above us, we all tried to get their attention, but they carried on to the other beaches. It came back a few times, we were hoping they would give us some information on what to do, but they just flew on again. The 2 of us were luckily there to support each other. Just holding each other we watched how the wave rushed through the side street, just destroying everything in its way that was still left behind from the last wave. The force of that last wave was just unbelievable. Watching other buildings collapse. It just damaged everything around. We were just waiting for something to go wrong with the hotel. Knowing that its just a few pillars holding us up here. Luckily nothing happened. We waited another 3 hours for the water to disappear. So, after 6 hours of waiting, stressing, worrying and feeling so nauseous it was over. It became so silent the hooters had stopped the people stopped screaming, it was the strangest silence anyone could hear. Eventually the ocean was so still that we went downstairs to take a look what had all been done. It was shocking how a wave can damage so much. There were speed boats split in 2. Boats were all over on the main beach road. Cars were smashed into building. In our hotels restaurant and reception area there were about 6 cars some even upside down. In one of the taxi’s you could see someone’s foot, but too scared to help or look any longer. Some of the walls had been broken down from the force of cars smashing into. The fire brigade, police and ambulances were all over helping. There were people waiting on the side of the road hoping to still find husbands, wives, kids or any family member. There were still so many frightened people, when one person shouted we all ran again for our lives, but nothing had happened, there was just panic everywhere. After taking a few pictures we were told to move up. We grabbed our backpacks and walked for about 600m up the road through all the rubble and debris to another hotel. There we checked in, luckily getting the last room available. Only really then did we have a chance to watch the news. We saw how everything all over India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other place in Thailand were damaged. Also only then did we know it was a tsunami caused by the earthquake. We were running up and down the whole time trying to find out what was happening. We didn’t know when to leave the island, where it was safe to stay. We walked around the street to hear and see what other people were doing.

We tried to phone our families, but they never had international lines available. We were both so desperate to let our family know we were fine. We stayed around that hotel the whole time, cause too many people kept screaming from panic. We tried to get food at a nearby restaurant, but they could only give us rice. We hadn’t eaten for 24 hrs and barely drank anything. The airport was closed and the only road off the island, which is a bridge was apparently chaos with traffic and people trying to cross. And still not knowing if that bridge wasn't damaged. A taxi driver arrived at the hotel to pick up people, but those people were just not anywhere around, luckily we were the only people there, but the driver could not speak English. We got the lady at the hotel reception to translate for us. She managed to get the taxi driver to take us to the airport. We had exactly on the dot the money for the taxi. We couldn’t use the ATM’s either cause of no power. On the way to the airport we tried to look at all the damage been done, but couldn’t see much in the dark. But there were people all over on the top of the hills. All the taxis and locals were too scared to go down to the towns. After an hour drive we got to the airport and found it full of people crying and screaming again. Some were badly hurt too. We thought we’d never get a flight out, but by luck we booked a ticket and got onto a flight straight away. There was no waiting. Bangkok airways had organized to bring in extra flights. We eventually arrived in Bangkok at 1am. Then looked for a hotel for the night. The airport was busy with people waiting for family and friends. Also immigration from various countries were there to help. We were hoping for help from South Africa, but didn’t see anything. The flights leaving to go to Phuket were just doctors, nurses and whomever to help out. We found a hotel not too far from the airport, but couldn’t sleep. The first thing we did was phone our parents. They were so relieved. All they could tell us is how much they love us. My younger brother, Jeremy and Alan’s mom, Magda apparently went all out in South Africa to try and find out if we were still alive, but no one could help them. They had phoned the SA embassy office to see if they could trace us if we still alive and they said they could do nothing to help. They were so worried and feeling sick. Jeremy got hold of someone in Pretoria and they offered him a free flight out to Thailand to see if he could find our bodies. When we managed to phone him he just cried from relief. The first thing he said to me is I love you guys so much. After a few days the American embassy contact Magda to let her know that we were fine, she was shocked that she had to wait so long to know we were fine, even though we had already contacted her.

The following morning we booked a flight to Koh Samui. Another island but on the other side of Thailand’s mainland where no damage was done. We spend then 3 weeks there to try to relax and re-organize our minds, of all the things we saw and experienced. But somehow supporting each other we managed to enjoy the rest of our holiday and had a wonderful New Years celebration.

1 Year Later

After having experienced such a scary and dramatic thing, we knew it was destiny. We got engaged on 16 April 2005. And got married on 2 July 2005. During the year we traveled to Belgium to see family, whom were so happy to see us. It is so amazing to see how many people cared and worried for us. Even people that we have never met. We got engaged on the flight back home, so somewhere over Spain we say. It was just so different yet so romantic.
Then for our December holiday we were not sure what to do. Finances were not enough to travel, but when we heard that there’ll be a memorial for 1 year of tsunami we made a plan. On 15 December 2005, same date as last time. We decided to go back. After all the nightmares we thought it would do us good. My younger brother, Jeremy and older Brother, Christophe joined our adventure. We all met up in Bangkok where we spent a few days shopping and exploring. Then off we went back to Phuket. It was still a little worrying, but yet exciting to see all the changes. When we arrived at the airport there were banners and advertising everywhere for the 1 year memorial. Our bodies felt ice cold from remembering everything we experienced last year. And remembering what mad-house the airport was then, compare to how quite it was now. We find a taxi to take us to the same hotel (The Royal Palm Resotel). We were hoping to stay there again, but they were unfortunately fully-booked. When we walked in, it was the most bizarre feeling ever, feeling cold and sick, just remembering how the hotel looked last year. The hotel had totally changed, so much more modern. There were photos up on display of the tsunami. It was just the weirdest feeling walking through the foyer and restaurant remembering the cars and rubble that laid there before.

Jeremy and myself waited then on the side of the road, while Alan and Christophe looked for another place to stay. While waiting I tried to explain Jeremy how everything has changed. We could still see a lot work been done along the beach road. The pavements were all been re-done. You could still clearly see the damage that was done. The palm trees had markings on too of the boats and cars that had hit them. Also sitting there, it was late evening and couldn’t see the beach, there were so many odd thoughts of the whole experience going through my mind, thinking what if…. but like everyone told me, what are the chances it will happen again on the same day or around the same time. Eventually Alan and Christophe returned. Everything was fully booked, which I couldn’t believe cause it seemed like so little people walking around. But they did find something. It was a hotel that was also damaged by the tsunami, but they haven’t opened their doors to public yet, cause they are still busy with renovation. But we told the gentleman that we will take a room. The only things not working was the lift, TV, telephone and the water always had problems with hot and cold. But that didn’t worry us, we just wanted to be there to join the memorial day. We celebrate Christmas at a really nice restaurant nearby our old hotel. There were a lot more people than when we arrived. We were already in Phuket for about 4 days by now. We had traveled around the island quite abit, renting a jeep. We even followed all the boards where they’d have a memorial celebration. Therefore traveling a big distance up north. We visited all the beaches that were damaged. It was really hard to see all this, but knowing it’s a good thing to come out our system. One of the areas they had set up for tourist to write a messages on big boards for their own country. We all decided to write a message on the South African and Belgium board. It made us feel good to write a message too on behalf of all others whom could not be there. The most touristic places have been fixed and are up and running. The quieter place where most locals live are still very much run down or totally abandoned. Many local thai’s are afraid to be near the coast now, a lot of them have moved inland or up the mountains. Koa Lak which had the most damage was still a mess. We drove through the town and it felt like a ghost town. There are still some cars that are damaged against trees. Most of the palm trees and coconut trees are destroyed. There are still hotels, houses, restaurants and shops that are totally abandoned and destroyed. We had a small lunch in one of the restaurants further up in the main street and the people were so happy and friendly to see us. U had that feeling that they were desperate for tourists. There was a sign up against a pillar which was about 600m away from the beach which said that the water was up to 3.2m high. Just shows how hard they were hit.

Two days later we walked to where the memorial was held on Patong Beach, Phuket. It was really hard to see the people crying and just thinking of how lucky we are to have survived. The feelings inside was sad, yet calming. We lay flowers down whilst remembering that day in our thoughts. Alan and I were just holding each other tight and thanking our lucky stars that we are survivors. Walking back to the beach to cool down from the hot weather, there were hundreds of people on the beach laying down flowers and messages. Some people were really taking it hard, but there’s nothing we can do to make them feel better. That evening there were all Chinese lanterns that were lit. The whole sky was just lights, the most beautiful thing to see. Alan and I also lit one which gave a feeling of relief. Letting go of the past and moving on with our future. We watched out little lantern for a few minutes till it disappeared into the darkness.

The next day we could feel the people are all more alive. U could sense that everyone had let go and decided to move on with their lives. So many people just had to say goodbye to their loved ones. We then decided to take a boat trip to Phi Phi island which we could not do last year due to this tsunami. Coming around the corner heading towards the pier is was just so different. We could see all the way to the other side of the beach. All the trees were gone and destroyed. So many buildings missing. It was really sad to see that they just don’t have to money to fix the island up. So much still needs to be done. The thai’s are begging for money there. When u want to buy something, they beg and plead that u feel so bad and don’t want to bargain like you’d normally do. They would accept any price you’d ask as well. The island has become more for younger crowd too. There were not many families there, it was more students. Accommodation was hard to find. Most hotels are not up and running yet either. From Phi Phi Island we headed off to Koh Samui, the island on the other side of Thailand’s mainland.

We were so happy to have gone back to see that people are moving on even though it was something really hard to face. Having shared the ceremony with all the thousands of others made u feel so good. From doing this trip too, our nightmares have stopped. Feels like we’ve been through therapy by doing this. Our thoughts are with everyone that was there that day and for all those ones that lost family and friends. We just want to thank all those who were with us that day to help us be SURVIVORS.

SURVIVOR: Dorothy Wilkinson

2006-12-25T19:05:00.000+08:00

DOROTHY WILKINSON and her partner Tom were visiting Tom’s 58 year old parents who had moved to Thailand. They decided to visit the island of Khao Lak. Dorothy’s partner and his parents were washed away. Dorothy snapped her coccyx, crushed three vertebrae, almost severed her left arm at the elbow where there was a hole the size of a tennis ball, and her head was so badly gashed that her skull was exposed. She thought she was going to die. But with the help of others – she survived. Read various accounts of her story below.

2 years on, grieving tsunami survivors return to Thailand to remember the dead
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
KHAO LAK, Thailand

Two years after a tsunami killed her fiance and his parents, British national Dorothy Wilkinson still has a hard time going near the sea and cries when talking of that fateful day.

But like scores of other survivors, Wilkinson, from Surrey, England, has come back to the same beaches where the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami struck to pay respects to the thousands who died and take another tentative step to rebuilding her own life.

"This is a time to remember those people whom we lost," said Wilkinson, who attended a morning memorial service for tsunami victims in Khao Lak and planned to lay flowers on the beach where her fiance died. "I'm still sad. I don't want to spend Christmas at home. It is too lonely."

About 300 foreign and Thai tsunami survivors joined a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims, observing a minute of silence while Thai police laid flowers and incense on a boat that was washed ashore by the massive waves.

Sharon Howard, a British tourist who lost her fiancee and two children in the disaster and attended the ceremony, said being there made her "very sad, very sad."

"I miss them. They were my life," she said, as tears poured down her cheeks. "I wish I could turn back time and they could all come back."

Similar ceremonies were held on at least two other Thai beaches hard hit by the disaster, including Phuket's Patong beach, where 99 monks chanted for the victims, and dozens of relatives of the dead laid flowers in the sand.

A sign on Patong beach simply read: "Remembering our friends, Dec. 26, 2004."
Thai officials also used the ceremony to reassure survivors they were putting measures in place — including a tsunami warning system — to prevent future disasters.

"The Thai government will try to do everything it can to prevent the loss of lives and any serious damage as we experienced two years ago," Sakthip Krairerk, a senior official in the tourism and sports ministry, told the crowd.

Authorities also planned to open a cemetery for hundreds of unidentified tsunami victims later in the day.

The tsunami killed 8,212 people in Thailand, including foreigners vacationing at five-star resorts and local residents who mostly lived in fishing communities that line the Andaman coast.
Some 230,000 people in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim were killed or missing and presumed dead in the disaster.

Wilkinson said she is still struggling to cope with the loss or her relatives and understand why she was the only one to survive. On her trip to Thailand this year, she said she wants to give back something to the country and will spend time teaching English to Thai children.
"It is, perhaps, my way of making myself feel like a better person," she said.

For many Thai survivors, the recovery process has been just as difficult. Along with grieving for loved ones, many have had to rebuild homes washed away in the waves as well as shops and other businesses lost in the disaster.

"If I could die in their place, I would do it," said Beehong Nawalong, a 76-year-old food vendor who brought photographs to the Khao Lak ceremony of her daughter and four grandchildren who died in the tsunami. She also lost her home in the disaster.

"I still can't come to terms with it. I cry almost every night," she said, adding that the body of one granddaughter remains missing.

Evening Standard (London), Jan 10, 2005 by LECH MINTOWT-CZYZ

Many Britions who went to the region to search for missing friends and relatives have reported Foreign Office staff were " unhelpful", "lacking knowledge" and "incompetent".
So far 50 Britons have been confirmed dead and a further 391 are thought highly likely to have been killed. As many as 2,000 others are still unaccounted for.

At least 150,000 people are now known to have died in the disaster.

With the official British death toll expected to rise today one London man told how his sister, brother-inlaw and nephew were all swept to their deaths.

Michael Pitt's sister and her husband, Colin and Carole Fairbairn, both 58 and expatriates who had settled in Thailand, were being visited by their son Tom, 25 and his partner Dorothy Wilkinson.

The group had decided to pay a visit to the idyllic beach at Khao Lak when they were caught in the tragedy. Miss Wilkinson, 34, managed to climb up a tree and survived with cuts and bruises but saw the rest of her party engulfed by the water.

In a heartbreaking phone call from her hospital bed she told Mr Pitt how the horror unfolded.
He said: "Dorothy said her last memories are of the sea going out, Tom going down to the water's edge, and of running up the beach with Colin, and with Carole and Tom running behind. She got up a tree but they did not."

Mr Pitt, 50, from Croydon, flew out to Khao Lak to search for his relatives but without success.
He added: "That was the first time I could weep. The chaos, the bodies that were buried there, you could smell them. They couldn't, all three of them, be lying unconscious in a Thai hospital. I understood that."

Mr Pitt told how he visited the room they had stayed in at the Orchid Beach resort.
"They had been staying at the main block and it was still standing, although everything around it was scattered and smashed," he said.

"Their room was wrecked. Water and sand had flowed through it.

There were no documents or valuables. I found a few pathetic personal belongings - Carole's glasses case, a novel she was reading by Rose Tremain, Colin's scuba mask and Tom's Christmas card to his parents thanking them for this wonderful holiday.

"I went down to the beach in order to spend some time alone, just sitting there. To people who want to come out and do this, even if you are experienced, I have to say it is very, very distressing. There is the smell of death, which once you smell it you can never forget."
Colin and Carole, from Walton-On-Thames, Surrey, had been enjoying their expat life in Bangkok, where Carole, a former headmistress, taught at Shrewsbury International School, a branch of the British public school.

For Tom's sake, I will finish the Marathon

Evening Standard (London), Apr 11, 2006 by DAVID COHEN

THE THAI doctor stood over a critically injured Dorothy Wilkinson and shouted at her above the din of the overcrowded Khao Lak hospital ward.

Having just survived the Boxing Day tsunami, she was delirious, barely conscious and temporarily deaf. All around, laid wall to wall on the floor, hundreds of people were screaming in agony. It was a scene of utter mayhem.

Then, like a whip cracking, she heard the doctor's dreaded words: "English girl! You've broken your back!"

At that moment, in excruciating pain and desperately scanning the ward for her missing partner, Tom Fairbairn, Dorothy could barely deal with news that she would never walk again.

Yet instantly she was stubbornly refusing the prognosis. "It's not broken!

I can feel my feet," she protested. But nobody heard her. Instead, with her temperature soaring, Dorothy was moved to a dark corner where she was expected to die from her horrific injuries. She had snapped her coccyx, crushed three vertebrae, almost severed her left arm at the elbow where there was a hole the size of a tennis ball, and her head was so badly gashed that her skull was exposed.

Fast-forward 16 months and Dorothy, 38, having tortuously found her way back to health after five lifesaving operations, is not only walking but in 12 days' time will line up for the 2006 Flora London Marathon. Ironically, she had been in training for last year's London Marathon on the very morning the tsunami struck, running for an hour along the beach at dawn, and although she had to miss last year's event she is in no doubt that her peak fitness helped save her life.
"When you are running a marathon, you learn to block out the pain and focus on what you have to do to cross the line. I instinctively got into that mode, lying in the hospital with no pain relief and desperate for morphine."

This will be her fifth London Marathon but none will be more poignant. For in the journey from her tsunami deathbed to the massed ranks of the Greenwich Park starting-grid lies a story of extraordinary courage, miraculous intervention, and sheer bloody- minded determination.
Her red running vest, printed with the words "in memory of Tom, Colin and Carole", hints at the tragedy she has suffered. For Tom, 25, a mechanical engineer and the man she expected to share her life with, and his parents, Colin and Carole, whom she also adored, were all killed when the 40ft tsunami smashed into the beach on which they were sunbathing. Of the four, only Dorothy, who worked as a gym instructor at her local Surrey fitness centre, survived.

"I returned from Thailand a broken, heartbroken woman, my future washed away in that wave, along with my lovely Tom," Dorothy says at her semi-detached house in Surrey. She tries to hold back her tears as she describes what she has been through, tenderly cradling her heavily scarred forearm, which feels "as hypersensitive as an exposed tooth nerve", and which she attempts to protect with a fitted-Lycra sleeve support.

"I started running after the funerals of Tom and his parents in April last year.

At first I could only run around the block. For months, I struggled to find the will to live, let alone run, yet at the same time it felt like an emotional release to slip on my running shoes.
Slowly, I have built up my strength. I am determined to find the strength to run for Tom and his parents.

Dorothy has another compelling reason to push through the pain barrier. She wants to give back, she says, by raising funds for two charities: the Red Cross, who have supported her throughout her fragile recovery; and the Gentlemans Night Out (GNO) charity which raises funds for good causes such as the terminally ill, and whose intervention almost certainly saved her life.

"It was the fourth day after the tsunami," recalls Dorothy, "and I was hovering between life and death, when suddenly I looked up and saw a beautiful blonde-haired, English-speaking lady who I thought must be an angel. Her name was Kathy Kaplan and she held my hand and in a calm voice told me: 'Don't worry, we are here to help you.' It was such a relief to hear English that for a moment I thought I must be in heaven.

But then I saw the Thai surgeons who moments earlier had been pointing to the pus-filled hole in my arm, and I started shouting hysterically: 'They're going to cut off my arm!' "Kathy immediately found a translator who assured me that although the arm was highly infected, they were not going to amputate it. Next thing, her husband, Arnie, the president of the GNO charity, was by my side and I could hear him instructing the doctors: 'You've got to get her on the next military plane to Bangkok. If she stays here, she will die.'"

Kathy and Arnie, who were on holiday in Thailand, had gone to the hospital with a friend to give blood. "Suddenly, because I had people advocating for me, I became a priority, and within hours I was being wheeled into Bangkok's BNH Hospital," says Dorothy. "They gave me the drugs and operations that saved my life."

Future Tsunami in next 30 years will kill 60,000

2006-12-23T15:48:00.000+08:00

If we, as humans, know that 60,000 to 900,000 people could die in the next 2-30 years in a second - almost certain to come tsunami - would we do more to protect those lives? It seems we do know this. Yet - how much will this knowledge change people's minds on where to live - and how to prepare? News from AP:

Scientists predict future tsunami
December 25, 2006

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) -- Two years after an earthquake off western Indonesia unleashed a monster tsunami, scientists expect the same fault to rupture again within the next few decades -- and this town stands to take the full force of the waves.

They predict a large swath of Sumatra island's densely populated coast just south of the tsunami-hit area will be pounded by a giant wall of water.

"All this area in red will disappear," Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar said, pointing at a satellite map on his office wall showing the likely reach of the waves into the town.
The low-lying town of 900,000 people has started mapping out evacuation routes and educating the public, but all the same, authorities fear up to 60,000 will die, unable to outrun the waves even if they get a speedy warning and flee.

"The people will be washed away," Bahar said.

On the morning of December 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake in four decades lifted the seabed west of Sumatra by several yards, propelling waves up to two stories high at jetliner speeds across the Indian Ocean to smash into coastal communities, beach resorts and towns in 12 nations.

In hardest-hit Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, the waves surged miles inland, tossing ships, swallowing entire villages and leaving behind a blasted landscape of concrete foundations and rubble littered with tens of thousands of bodies.

On Sumatra island -- home to more than half the tsunami's nearly 230,000 dead and missing -- volunteers and emergency workers took three months to recover all the corpses and bury them in mass graves.

Warnings of another tsunami-spawning quake are adding urgency to efforts to establish a warning system covering the Indian Ocean rim like the network of high-tech buoys in the Pacific that alerts Japan, the United States and other nations of sudden tidal changes.

The worst-affected countries have begun installing sirens on threatened coasts and three buoys with sensors capable of detecting waves generated by seismic activity are in the water, but the network is several years from completion, officials say.

Making sure the system works from end-to-end is a "daunting task," said Curt Barrett at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is helping set it up.
"Once the warning goes out, people have to know what to do," he said. "All of this information is useless if it doesn't get to the person down on the beach."

The warnings of another tsunami are based on more than a decade of research by respected U.S. geologist Kerry Sieh and a team of scientists on a section of the fault just south of the part that ruptured in 2004.

His conclusions are shared by scientists at other universities and government research institutions.

230-year pattern

The fault, which runs the length of the west coast of Sumatra about 125 miles offshore, is the meeting point of the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates that have been pushing against each other for millions of years, causing huge stresses to build up.

Using historical accounts of earlier quakes, measurements of coral uplift and data from a network of Global Positioning System transmitters on nearby islands, Sieh, from the California Institute of Technology, has found a pattern of large earthquakes about every 230 years, with the last major ones in 1797 and in 1833.

The 2004 jolt, as well as another strong quake on the same fault three months later that killed 1,000 people on nearby Nias island, has loaded even more stress, Sieh said.
"We are not saying the quake is going to happen tomorrow or next week, but on the other hand we don't want people to forget about it and be lax," he said. "I'd be surprised if it were delayed much beyond 30 years."

A small non-governmental agency funded by foreign donors is spreading the message in Padang and surrounding districts. The group has met with hundreds of village heads and religious leaders and sends volunteers to schools along the threatened coast with a simple warning:
"If the quake lasts longer than a minute, knocks you to your feet or collapses buildings, run to the nearest hills," volunteer Riska told a class recently.

"If you can't make it, then climb a tree. Start learning now," she said, her voice hoarse from trying to hold the giggling children's attention.

The group says residents and local government officials are receptive to its message, especially since a second tsunami on Indonesia's main island of Java last July killed 600 people.
Coastal residents say land prices have fallen, a sign that people are moving inland.
But simply raising awareness isn't enough, experts say.

The tsunami will likely crash into the shore within 20 minutes because the fault line is so close, meaning the town must make expensive infrastructure changes to enable people to flee.
Evacuation roads need widening, and bridges crossing the town's many rivers need reinforcement. Some experts say tsunami-proof towers should be built in coastal areas and emergency services and government agencies moved inland.

Sieh says Indonesia would be better off spending more money on those projects and educating people than on installing and maintaining an expensive warning system of buoys.

"You have an earthquake and it lasts for five minutes. It is shaking so heavily you can't walk. Why do you need a warning? Haven't you got one already?" he asks. "It is not just a waste of money, it is a distraction: It gives people a false sense of security."

Australian Chris Scurrah and his wife manage a small hotel in Padang's seaside colonial quarter and run a thriving business organizing surfing trips. After five good years, they have no plans to leave.

"It's an awesome place to be, but it's just scary it's going to get smashed," Scurrah said before setting out with a boatload of surfers. "That's just the way it works here."

2006-12-20T00:24:00.000+08:00

It is one week away from the second anniversary of the Tsunami. Recently, a reporter contacted me to talk about the second anniversary. I wrote back and corrected her by saying it was the third year anniversary. But it really has only been two years. And I am wondering why it seems so much more long ago? Am I trying to forget about it and want to make it as far in the past as possible?

But it is indeed only 2 years ago. For many - the life and memories still live on. Recently, one person wrote to me, and told me that by reading the stories on this website, she was able to start to come to terms with her trauma. Yet others are running as fast away from the memories as possible.

For me - I will be returning to Thailand this year. I haven't decided if I will go to Phuket or take refuge in Bangkok. But I will take time to remember!

SOME FACTS TO REMIND EVERYONE OF WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake--known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake--was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 7:58 a.m. (local time) December 26, 2004 with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis that spread throughout the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and inundating coastal communities across South and Southeast Asia, including parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

Magnitude: Magnitude 9 "megathrust"

Scale of slippage:
30 kilometres below the seafloor, a 1200 km stretch of the Indian plate was thrust up to 20 metres under the Burma plate, raising the seafloor by several metres.

Historical ranking:
The fourth largest since 1900 and the world's biggest since a magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1964.

Epicentre locality:
250 km south-south-east of Banda Aceh, Indonesia and 1600 km north-west of Jakarta.

Energy released:
Equivalent to the explosion of 475,000 kilotons of TNT, or 23,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs.

Height and speed of tsunamis:
In the open ocean, just 50 centimetres high but travelling at up to 800 km/h. However, the wave s grew and slowed as the sea shallowed towards coasts. Waves were up to 10 metres on the coastline of Sumatra near the epicentre, 4 metres in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia. Distance waves travelled inland: Up to 2000 metres.

Number of countries damaged:
13, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, The Maldives and Somalia.

Date of last major tsunami in the Indian Ocean:
1945

Disaster and humanitarian crisis statistics

Number of people killed:
Latest figures indicate at least 226,000 dead, including 166,000 in Indonesia, 38,000 in Sri Lanka, 16, 000 in India 5300 in Thailand and 5000 foreign tourists.

Number of people injured:
Over 500,000

Potential additional deaths from infectious diseases: 150,000

Number of people affected:
Up to 5 million people lost homes, or access to food and water.

Number of children affected:
Around a third of the dead are children, and 1.5 million have been wounded, displaced or lost families.

Number of people left without the means to make a living:
One million

Number of World Heritage Sites destroyed or damaged:
Five, including: the Old Town of Galle in Sri Lanka, the Tropical Rainforest of Sumatra in Indonesia and the Sun Temples of Konarak in India.

Estimated cost of tsunami early warning technology in Indian Ocean:
$20 million

Estimated cost of aid and reconstruction following tsunami:
$7.5 billion

Total international aid promised to Tsunami-ravaged nations:
$7 billion

Source: NewScientist.com

SURVIVOR: Vernon Olson

2006-12-10T15:44:00.000+08:00

Tsunami survivor finds pain, hope
Retiree returns to Thai island
By Jason Schwartz, Globe Correspondent
December 29, 2005

Among Vernon Olson's final assignments to his sixth-grade class at the Fessenden School in Newton was an article on the warning signs of a tsunami.

As he embarked on a three-month retirement trip to Southeast Asia last year, he could not have known how prophetic that lesson would be.

Olson, who lives in Lexington, was in Patong on Thailand's Phuket Island on Dec. 26, 2004, when the tsunami smashed into the resort town. Despite being knocked over and swallowed up by the waves, the 66-year-old escaped without serious injury.

This month, he returned to the same beach where he almost died. He has spent the past several weeks relaxing and surveying the mostly rebuilt town.

But despite the fresh appearance of the market where he buys his daily newspaper, he said he cannot forget that more than 40 people drowned in that spot a year ago.

Other areas, such as around his old hotel, are still strewn with debris.

It was there on a terrace that Olson's tsunami ordeal began. He was sipping his morning coffee, anticipating another beautiful day on the beach, when the hotel's night manager hurried by with a camera. The sea had risen higher than he had ever seen it, so the manager wanted to snap a picture. A half-dozen other guests stood with Olson, transfixed by the spectacle.
There was one problem, though: The water was rushing toward them. It was a tsunami, and there had been no warning signs.

''With no time to think or to try to understand what was happening, I ran into a small alleyway next to the building," Olson recalled.

When the water caught up with him, he was trapped between a small building and a three-story hotel.

Lifted up by the current, he clung to a beam beneath a second-story balcony until a wave ripped him from his ''umbilical line to life."

Thinking he was all but dead, Olson attempted to tread water, but was quickly pulled under. Then the lights went out.

Ten or 15 minutes later -- he has no way of knowing for sure -- he found himself on a field about 100 yards away from where he had lost consciousness.

Olson came to slowly, sitting for several minutes in ''numbed disbelief." His body was covered in bruises, but other than some aches, he felt fine.

Taking stock, he heard what sounded like soft crying a short distance off. Olson looked over to see a small boy with his arm cut open, bone and muscle exposed. Off in another direction, a couple huddled together in shock.

Olson managed to get up and help the boy, wrapping his wound in a small red undershirt he had found. Carrying the boy back to the hotel, Olson trudged past body after body. He recalls being surprised by how quickly the authorities had covered them up.
Olson gave the boy, whom he would never see again, to a hotel staff member and then departed for the journey inland.

Looking back, Olson said that he never panicked; rather, he thought of the irony that he used to own a beachfront house in Cotuit, yet in his 15 years there had never ventured into the ocean.
''I don't put myself in vulnerable situations in terms of the ocean, yet the ocean [was] getting me," he said.

Though he now looks at the sea with more caution, he refuses to let worries of another disaster spoil his vacation.

''Every future day of my life is a gift," he said. ''I should not have been alive after that happened. The person standing next to me in the stairs was killed."

Olson has always loved adventure. In 1977, he took a trip around the world, and just as the Gulf War was breaking in 1990, he decided to take a year off from Fessenden and spend it teaching in Egypt.

His family consists of just a younger brother, leaving him free to travel alone without a set agenda. A Minnesota native and longtime Massachusetts resident, Olson wants to be somewhere warm for wintertime.

''I just kind of bounce around from place to place, depending on the rainy season somewhat," he said.

Still, Patong was his first destination on this current trip, even though it is the rainy season. Olson reports that the town is again teeming with tourists, but the tsunami remains a constant presence. For example, the local paper a few weeks ago had a story about the discovery of a skeleton, presumed -- based on its size and characteristics -- to be European.

Olson said that he's been encouraged by small encounters. During his trip last year, he had noticed an old woman offering massages to beachgoers. A few weeks ago, he was heartened to see her again, walking the beach as though nothing had ever happened.

Movie mini-series to be made about the Thailand Tsunami

2006-07-02T14:57:00.000+08:00

We knew it would come one day. It was just a matter of when. And whom.

BBC is set to produce a miniseries to focus on the Thailand story of the Tsunami. Codename "Aftermath" will focus on the area of Khao Lak.

SEE THE LINK

Every other disaster eventually gets a story told through reality television. Why not this?

More to come as the movie gets closer!

Rick

Tsunami miniseries sets off debate
Controversy swirls around the timing of ‘Aftermath’
The Associated Press

Updated: 2:29 p.m. PT June 29, 2006
KHAO LAK, Thailand - Initially, Boonlue Mongkhol objected to his village being used for a TV miniseries about the 2004 tsunami. He lost his loved ones in the disaster and didn't want to relive the tragedy.

But when the British Broadcasting Corp. advertised for extras, the 38-year-old businessman put aside his personal feelings and spent five days portraying a corpse and a body collector _ earning $13 a day.

"My father, niece and nephew died there," said Boonlue, who also lost his house, seafood restaurant and mini market when the massive waves hit Khao Lak on Dec. 26, 2004. "I didn't want to do it but there is no other way to earn money."

The filming of "Aftermath" _ a two-part miniseries produced by the BBC and HBO, shot along Thailand's tsunami-battered coast _ has set off a debate over the merits of bringing the tragedy to the screen so soon after the disaster.

Supporters say it's an important story, touching on universal themes of hope and loss, while many survivors say reviving the tsunami has hit them with more heartache.

Similar debates among survivors have played out in the United States with "United 93," the first big-screen treatment of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and in Australia when there was talk of making a movie about the 2002 Bali bombings, the victims of which were mainly Australians.

"You are exacerbating the healing process," said Anie Kalayjian, whose non-governmental Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention has provided counseling to survivors of the tsunami and last year's Pakistan earthquake.

"On some level, they need to distance themselves from the devastating impact of the event to heal," she said. "Post-trauma means the trauma has to end and you need a certain distance before you can process your feelings and make meaning and sense out of the unimaginable."

Billed as a compelling story of survival and courage, the two-part series to be shown on HBO and BBC Two later this year follows eight characters in the aftermath of the tsunami including a young couple searching for their child, an Englishwoman whose husband and son are missing, and a Thai man who lost his family and village.

The drama is being directed by Bharat Nalluri and the cast includes Tim Roth, Sophie Okonedo and Toni Collette.

Khao Lak, with its white-sand beaches and stunning views of the Andaman Sea, was chosen as the location because a majority of the 5,400 people killed in Thailand came from surrounding villages on the country's southwestern coast, as did the thousands more left homeless.

Though many of the hotels and hundreds of homes have been rebuilt, jobs remain scarce and many families are still grieving for dead relatives.

"I don't want a movie shot here," said Wandee Sae-hong, a 32-year-old survivor from the nearby village of Baan Nam Kem, which lost about half its 5,000 residents in the tsunami. "I don't want to see the disaster again. It will bring too much sadness."

A need for jobs
Other Thais welcomed the production, saying it could bring jobs to the area and serve as an educational tool.

"It's good because the next generation can see what happened," said Renu Suiraksa, a Khao Lak woman who lost her brother and 10 cousins in the disaster. "Before, I didn't know anything about a tsunami. But if we have this movie, people will be able to see what happens and maybe have time to run away the next time."

Thai survivors and relief workers say they were most angered that the crew chose to re-enact the disaster _complete with dead bodies and overturned cars_ on the main road through Khao Lak that was devastated by the giant waves.

Others were upset the crew chose to put up flyers throughout the tsunami-hit region, saying victims were needed as extras.

"It was pretty tasteless. People are not happy," said Robert Reynolds, an American charity director whose Srithong Thukaoluan Foundation is supporting more than 100 children affected by the tsunami.

Finola Dwyer, the drama's producer, said she regretted the wording in the flyer. But she defended the decision to shoot in areas hit by the tsunami.

"Why not? It did happen. It's not a piece of fiction," Dwyer said.

Dwyer said she faced similar challenges shooting the acclaimed drama "The Hamburg Cell" which came out in 2004 and delves into lives of the Sept. 11 hijackers as it recounts the meticulous preparations for the attacks.

For that production, her team chose to shoot in Hamburg, Germany, where hijackers hatched their plans _ despite the fact that residents were "feeling bruised and raw from harboring these guys."

"`The Hamburg Cell' was a real challenge," Dwyer said. "It was balancing and working and navigating through all those different sensitivities and not wanting to cause offense but still wanting to make something truthful and real and reflective of the situation."

In Thailand, Dwyer said they sought and received government approval before shooting started because of the nature of the project. But even as they shot around the resort town of Phuket and Khao Lak, she said they were embraced by locals and even some survivors came to watch.

"When we were in Khao Lak, we had people come by and tell us their stories of how they were caught up in the tsunami," Dwyer said.

"Everybody acts differently. Of course, some people will get upset," she said. "But many of the survivors we met said `We are really glad you are doing this because people have already forgotten.'"

Return to Paradise? Comments on the Tourism Recovery

2006-01-13T15:21:00.000+08:00

From the Los Angeles Times

Thailand: One year after the tsunami
Many Thai beach resorts have come back ... will tourists?

By Beverly Beyette
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

PHUKET, Thailand -- As I sipped a tropical drink seaside at Mom Tri's Boathouse at Kata Beach, gentle waves lapped at the sand and a couple walked hand in hand along the horseshoe-shaped bay. From here, all seemed idyllic on Phuket, a well-loved resort island about 500 miles south of Bangkok. I spent time in early November in southern Thailand to see how -- indeed, whether -- the area had rebounded from the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami that slammed into the Andaman Coast, leaving about 220,000 dead or missing, including about 8,000 in Thailand. I wanted to know what tourists would find when -- and if -- they returned.

Many places on Phuket have made a remarkable recovery. Hotels and restaurants are open, and the beaches are clean, the water clear and green. Tourists will see little physical damage, but economic damage is significant. "We lost about half of our [tourism] income" in 2005, compared with 2004, Pattanapong Aikwanich, president of Phuket Tourist Association, told me. "And we had to repair everything."

But then there are places like Phi Phi Don island, a 90-minute ferry ride from Phuket, where the waves' full fury was felt. Rebuilding on Phi Phi Don has barely begun; the tragedy's legacy is all too apparent.

Officially, 721 people died in Krabi province, most on Phi Phi Don. Many bodies were never found.

That fateful day

Flashback to the morning of Dec. 26, 2004: Some guests were asleep, others taking a Thai cooking class when two waves hit at Mom Tri's Boathouse, a 36-room low-rise hotel. One wave almost reached the top of Koh Pu island a short distance offshore, where diving students suddenly found themselves sitting on the bottom of the sea.

The Boathouse Grill was inundated with seawater and sewage. "Total devastation," said French-born managing director Louis Bronner. "The grand piano was found in the street in 16 pieces. The long-tail [fishing] boats landed in the ground-floor rooms," where water was waist high.

Three people on this beach were among the 279 people killed on Phuket, but there were no casualties among hotel guests or staff. The Boathouse mopped up, refurbished and exactly two months later held its grand reopening. Today it's as good as new.

At Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort at Relax Bay near Patong, Phuket's popular beach city, construction work in the parking area and some ongoing re-landscaping are the only visible reminders of the tsunami.

The waves destroyed the beach bar and restaurants. It smashed tiles in the enormous swimming pools and flooded ground-floor rooms in one wing. Water reached the lobby and shops, which sit back from and above the beach.

No one was seriously injured, but damage, including destruction of the below-ground central operating facilities, kept the hotel closed until Aug. 15.

Locals feel overlooked

Ibrahim Ngankaeng, 64, sat on the beach at beautiful Ton Sai Bay on hard-hit Phi Phi Don island southeast of Phuket. Behind him hung a sign, "Return to Paradise." But this is no longer paradise.

Before the tsunami, this, the southern side of the island, was a magnet for divers and snorkelers, typically, 2,000 a day. They are returning -- but slowly: Now about 600 a day come. Locals complain that the government has been slow to help them, making recovery in Phuket its priority.

"I wonder how I can survive," says Ngankaeng, who lost his livelihood when the water swept away his shops and bungalows together with his restaurant, Arida.

Far worse, he lost his wife and two grandsons.

Farther up the now-desolate beach, signs point the way to bungalows that once stood here. I walked among flattened coconut-palm branches to the Phi Phi Island Cabana Hotel, which is being rebuilt and is expected to be fully open by March.

Owner Wanlert Kittithorngul suffered a double blow -- devastation of this hotel and loss of his new hotel at Khao Lak, a hard-hit coastal resort area in Phang Nga province on the mainland, 50 miles north of Phuket.

The Phi Phi Island Cabana was more than 90 percent full -- 400-plus guests -- when the tsunami hit. Ninety-six people died -- 25 guests, some of whom were in the swimming pool that now stands cracked and empty -- and 71 staff.

Walking around what's left of the hotel, Kittithorngul pointed out the ruins of the hotel spa --"seven persons killed."

We walked past the ballroom, where water-stained mattresses and mud-caked tables were stacked. Of the 40 hotels that stood on this part of the island, 30 were destroyed. Only four are now operational.

Somehow, he managed a smile when he talked about the new Amandalay villas, his unlucky Khao Lak property. "I opened on the 25th," he said. "On the 26th, nothing."

As I drove one day to the coastal resort area of Khao Lak, my guide, Jennifer, pointed out a boat sitting two miles inland, deposited there by the waves, which reached a height of 45 feet. Down at the beach, we saw smashed swimming pools, toppled palms, shells of hotels, wrecked long-tail boats. Before the tsunami, "you couldn't see the sea for the hotels," she said of Khao Lak.

We drove along the coast of the Andaman Sea to Cape Pakarang, which was partly washed away. The grass is brown; the seawater spoiled the land for farming, and some families have turned to farming tiger prawns for commercial purposes.

Casualties were heaviest in this province, Phang Nga -- officially, 4,221 dead -- and the nearby fishing village of Nam Khem was especially hard hit.

Donor money has built small cookie-cutter homes on stilts for survivors, many of them fishermen who lost their boats.

We stopped for lunch at the Khao Lak Merlin Resort, where staff stood about, anticipating our every move. The hotel's hilltop location largely spared it, but the industry has not rebounded strongly in Khao Lak, which lost much of its tourism infrastructure.

The Merlin, with a staff of 160 and 201 rooms, had 21 guests the day I was there.

The recovery

Much of Phuket island was spared, although there were pockets of devastation on the less-sheltered western shore. Still, many people on Phuket suffer from what they call the "economic tsunami." Tourism is Phuket's lifeblood; 100,000 of its population of 280,000 work in an industry that hosted 4.6 million visitors in 2004. They generally stayed about five days and spent about $100 a day.

Today, visitors will see big billboards proclaiming, "Phuket Is Back," and, to an extent, that's true.

Of Phuket's 530 hotels, "only about 20 percent cannot be operated," said Aikwanich of the Phuket Tourist Association.

Phuket's major hotels are up and running but are not fully booked. For about eight months after the tsunami, most had less than 10 percent occupancy, Aikwanich said. Gradually, tourists have returned. He projects major hotels "will run about 80 percent for the high tourist season" of November through April.

I stayed in three hotels -- Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, the Chedi Phuket and Mom Tri's Boathouse, all fully operational -- and found the staff-to-guest ratio decidedly in the guests' favor.

Asian tourists, who are a major market, also have been slow to return. Rudolf Borgesius, the Dutch-born general manager of Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, thinks they are concerned about whether "there are bodies floating in the ocean."

Bronner, of Mom Tri's Boathouse, said that, although some of his hotel's regulars returned as a show of support and others came out of curiosity, "it took a long time" to get the numbers up. "Some still hesitate," he said.

Like other high-end Phuket hotels, the Boathouse cut room rates after a slow September and was fully booked for October., having inspired bargain hunters. "More and more, we find this kind of guest," Bronner said.

"The mentality has changed."

When Le Meridien reopened in mid-August, business was slow.

But, said Borgesius, "Things picked up, mainly due to [the bombing in] Bali, I think. It's still a bit quiet." November occupancy was only half or a little better, but the hotel was fully booked for Christmas and New Year's. Conferences, 20 percent of the business, are returning.

Despite so-so occupancy rates for established hotels, the Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa, a new luxury hotel at Patong Beach, opened recently.

The 450-room Graceland is luxe on a grand scale; it has an entire school of sculptured seahorses spouting into pools, a bowling alley and the biggest ballroom in Patong Beach. But most of the guest rooms were empty.

"When the tsunami hit, we were in the last phase of construction," said Nawarat Thamrongvithavatpong, marketing and communications manager. "All the guests canceled."

Although the hotel was 30 percent to 40 percent occupied in November, she is optimistic: "Next year should be good."

Daniel Meury, Swiss-born general manager of the Chedi Phuket, a lovely tropics-style hotel on the island's Pansea Beach, said established hotels such as his, part of the Singapore-based Chedi chain, had the resources to cope after the tsunami unlike many of the smaller hotels, including some on Phi Phi and at Khao Lak.

Still, the eight months after the tsunami were tough on everyone, he added, and "disastrous for the guy who sells coconuts on the beach and the little shopkeepers" and owners of small restaurants.

Sithi Tandavanitg, president of the southern chapter of the Thai Hotel Association and owner of Phuket's Metropole, which was unscathed, also sees this as a time of transition.

Although Phuket has made a remarkable recovery, he said, things are still "very bad" on Phi Phi and Khao Lak. He is aware that foreigners see photos of devastation there and think it's Phuket.

"We have to work harder to explain," he said, so the tourists will come.

'Like a washing machine'

At Rawai on the southern tip of Phuket, we detoured to a fishing village where men were sorting the morning's catch -- lobsters, sand sharks, squid, mackerel.

Pan Hadsaithong, 62, who was born in this village, said he had never seen anything like the tsunami, describing the waves as "like a washing machine." Villagers fled to safety on high ground, but some of their boats still lie disabled on the beach.

The tide has changed since the tsunami, said Hadsaithong, and there are "more fish from outside," the open sea, species that never before came close to shore. But commercial fishing suffered after the tsunami, because many people wouldn't eat fish, fearing the fish had eaten corpses.

As I sat on the beach at the Chedi Phuket under a thatched umbrella and watched a glorious sunset, the destruction of a year before was hard to imagine.

But later, as I talked with Sriharat Krutket, owner of a shop near the Holiday Inn at Patong Beach, the destruction was very real. He was away when the tsunami struck.

"After one day, I see my shop. I say, 'Where is my shop?' " On TV, he saw news footage of his jeans, swimsuits and handbags washing out to sea. He had only fire insurance and estimates he lost as much as $120,000. The store was closed for five months. He's counting on a quick rebound in tourism.

At a tailor shop on Soi Patong Tower Street near the beach, owner Vinnod Handa, formerly of eastern India, who has lived in Thailand for 16 years, told me he used to think he had it made, owning the shop and two restaurants. "Off-season, we were good in the restaurant," he said. "High season, we were good in the tailor shop." He has restocked and reopened, but the customers aren't coming.

The restaurant reopened in March but in late April a fire led to its closure again.

The restaurant is doing so-so now, maybe half of its pre-tsunami business, but he has lost 70 percent of his tailor-shop clientele. He has borrowed money to stay in business and has decided that after April he will "sell everything and move from Thailand," maybe to Australia or Canada.

"My old customers, I send them e-mails: 'When are you coming?' They say, 'No, this time I go to Spain.' "

Tourists are returning to Phuket, said Handa, but many are bargain hunters. "Budget travelers, they don't buy anything. They don't help us."

And everywhere, I heard the same appeal: Tell the tourists to come. It's safe. Phuket is back.

Said Phuket Tourist Association President Aikwanich: "If people want to send money, clothes, thanks. But what we need now is tourists."

Telephones:

To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 66 (country code for Thailand) and the local number.

Where to stay:

Chedi Phuket, 118 Choeng Talay, Talang; 76-324-017, ghmhotels.com. What an island hotel should be: thatched roof cottages on the hillside above Pansea Beach. (Some units are way up there, a steep hike.) Cottages from about $355 in high season.

Mom Tri's Boathouse, 182 Koktanod Road, Kata Beach; 76-333-568, boathousephuket.com. Low-rise beachfront hotel for people who prefer not to stay in hotels. Lots of charm, away from bustle of Patong Beach. High-season rates from about $230.

Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, P.O. Box 277, Phuket; 76-292-666, phuket.com/meridien. Great location on Relax Bay, minutes from the center of Patong. Two pools, multiple restaurants, shops, inviting open air lobby. High season doubles begin at $165.

Where to eat:

Boathouse Grill, Mom Tri's Boathouse (see above). One of the top choices on Phuket, with creative menu and fine wine list. Dining on seaside terrace on a balmy night is a treat. Main courses $7-$20.

Dibuk, 69 Dibuk Road, old Phuket Town; 76-258-148, dibukrestaurant.com. In a 90-year-old former home with ceiling fans and wicker chairs. French menu selections, $2.50-$12.50. Thai menu selections, $2.25-$7.25.

Rockfish, 33/6 Kamala Beach Road, 76-279-732, rockfishrestaurant.com. Stylish contemporary open-air fusion cuisine restaurant overlooking beach. Mosquito repellent came with my meal but wasn't needed. Main courses $7-$10.

To learn more::

Tourism Authority of Thailand, in Phuket; 76-211-036; in Los Angeles, (323) 461-9814; tourismthailand.org.

TSUNAMI BLOGS featured on BBC including this blog

2006-01-05T00:17:00.000+08:00

BBC RADIO FIVE LIVE recently featured a segment devoted to TSUNAMI BLOGS on their UP ALL NIGHT radio show. Rhod Sharp, Kevin Anderson and Chris Vallance blog for Up All Night and on December 28, featured a show to “look back on last year's Tsunami, talking to eyewitnesses, those behind the relief efforts both large and small.”

GO HERE to listen to the show. (posted only for the current week. If you want to hear a recorded version after this date, please let me know).

On the BBC website, you will find the following description of the show:

Reflections on the Tsunami.28 December 2005

On this week's pods and blogs segment we gave the show over to memories of the tsunami. We began by speaking to 3 bloggers who were eyewitnesses to the disaster.

Evelyn Rodriguez who blogs at Crossroads Dispatches, Rick Von Feldt who runs the Tsunami Survivor blog, and Sanjay Senanayake who blogs from Sri Lanka as Morquendi.

There aren't many podcasts from the tsunami region, but the charity UNICEF produces a superb podcast with many shows dedicated to an examination of relief efforts. We talked to Blue Chevigny of UNICEF about why they podcast, interspersed with many great clips from their casts.

Kevin's contribution was an interview with blogger Dina Mehta who was one of the bloggers behind the Tsunami Help blog that was so useful in co-ordinating aid, and first place on the web, outside of the MSM for news on the disaster.

Dina also has a great personal blog here: http://radio.weblogs.com/0121664/.

Shaela Rahman is with the International Finance Corporation and has recently started work in Banda Aceh. She's new to the blogging business, but her diary is already a good read, an interesting on-the-ground account of the continuing relief efforts. She was joined by her colleague from the World Bank, John Clarke.

Lastly we looked at how smaller relief efforts had fared. Sam Schultz and Lee Downey of www.bonesandstones.com. proved that you don't have to be a big NGO to provide much needed aid, and quickly. It was a shame we didn't have longer to speak with Lee, but there's more of their story on the website which is well worth a read.

11 NEW STORIES - be sure to read!

2005-12-29T15:29:00.000+08:00

11 NEW STORIES ADDED
With the one year anniversary - more stories have been sent to me for their inclusion on the website. They are heart felt expriences you must read!

Also - this morning - I had a chance to participate in a one hour BBC radio show on the effects of blogging and the TSUNAMI. Also on the show was Evelyn Rodriguez - another phenominal writer / reporter / caretaker of souls from the Tsunami. I encourage you to take time to look at her site at CROSSROADS . She tells her story of returning to Phi Phi one year later.

11 NEW STORIES...

UPDATE from SURVIVOR DAVE LOWE
Dave goes to Thailand for the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. He talks about relationships of people bound together by being survivors.

SURVIVOR: Mark Nelson
Mark was one of those on the GROUND FLOORS of Patong Beach. He was staying at the Ban Thai resort on Patong Beach. He tells of his story when the first wave hit.

SURVIVOR: Dave Lowe
Dave was working in Maldives, when water taller than the entire island hit. Read his heroic and frightening story.

SURVIVOR: Dennis Hoogenkamp
DENNIS HOOGENKAMP writes a series of emails about his TSUNAMI EXPERIENCES and work in Phuket, Kao Lak, takuapa and Aceh in Sumatra.

SURVIVING PARENTS - and the story of a daughter who did not - Leanne Cox
This is a very sad story. Leanne Cox was never found. However, her parents write to letters to their daughter, even thought she never would read them.

SURVIVOR: Saly Huyton
Four friends are awakened by an earthquake while on the island of Phi Phi. Their story is shocking.

SURVIVOR: Fiona and Simon
A boyfriend and a girlfriend come together in Thailand for a much needed vacation – and barely survive.

SURVIVOR: Pat Benton
Pat describes her and her husband’s “THREE DAYS OF HELL IN KHAO LAK”

FELIX, LOUISE & ZAC IN PHI PHI
Man, Women and son fight for their life.

NAOMI'S STORY
Naomi Bowman describes her experience on Phi Phi – and what she is now doing to make a difference.

CHARLEY MARSHALL's story
Gary Marshall, father of 8 year old Charley – sends in Charley’s word of what happened to him.

SURVIVOR GUILT - reflections of GENE KIM and FAYE WACHS

2005-12-28T15:38:00.000+08:00

SURVIVOR GUILT
An interview with Gene Kim and Faye Wachs on NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO "AMERCIAN WEEKEND"

As the one year anniversary of the TSUNAMI HAS PASSED – so many people around the world are dealing with the memories in their own way. Some have returned to the beaches where they encountered and survived (and sometimes lost) from the tsunami. And the emotion varies with what people experienced – whether they were so involved that they were wet and battered by being in the middle of the waves or whether they were so near that they were witnesses – but spared physical pain.

I have tried to describe these two different experiences by labling them as either “getting wet” or “getting splashed.” The first are those survivors that found themselves running from the water – yet getting caught up in the water – and surviving. Getting “splashed” indicates those who saw it – got away from it – feared it and were affected for days around the event – but only suffered emotionally from the event.

People “getting wet” have told me they often are still dealing with trauma in so many different ways. They have nightmares – fear of water – and can’t stop thinking about images and feelings they dealt with. And of course, while over 250,000 died – millions also received physical impacts that they are still dealing with.

For those that were “splashed” – there is another kind of emotion that they – we – feel. Recently – National Public Radio Weekend America host Barbara Bogaev talked to one couple who was witness to the Tsunami.

Her interview recognizes some of the emotions that many “splashed” people feel. Thoughout the last year – we are asked so many questions – from well minded individuals about how we are “copying” with what we saw.

I have typed out a transcript of some of the radio interview. In particular – the questions of “survivor guilt” and “how much do you talk about this?” and how we have coped in the last year resonated well with me. Here are excerpts from the interview:

Note – the original story of LISTEN to the FULL INTERVIEW below at:
It is featured in HOUR TWO under the heading: Tsunami Anniversary

INTERVIEWER: December 26th marks a haunting anniversary for Gene Kim and his wife Faye Wachs. It is one year to the day, that Kim and Wachs were scuba diving in Thailand when the tsunami hit. Weekend America host Barbara Bogaev talks to the couple about their year. Gene Kim told us the story last year, when they returned…

For you Faye – how has this year progressed in terms of processing?

FAYE WACHS: In some ways, it is like so many emotions and images…come at your so quickly that you still don’t really get a chance to process them…I was talking with someone earlier today…and they were asking me what the hardest to thing to see was…and at first I said, of course, the piles of bodies….and then no – it was hard to see people looking for their children and not being able to find them…and then no – it was also hard to come in to the dock and see people crying over the bodies….and it was even hard to go to the airport and see them sitting in the corner by themselves sobbing and you knew they had left someone behind…

GENE: We actually have not had that many conversations about this thing…we have not really talked about it… part of it acknowledges that we have both moved on from the event in terms of coming to terms emotionally with what it means in our own lives… that we have come away with our lives in tact…

FAYE WACHS: We have told the story so many times to so many different people that that is also very therapeutic…because I am usally there when he is telling the story and he is there when I am telling the story – and we sort of take turns – and so we have got to hear what they other is feeling from these third party contacts…

INTERVIEWER: What kind of contact have you had with people you have got to know while you were waiting…that you were helping with recovery…

GENE: Well, strangely enough, almost none.

FAYE WACHS: To me, it is more the nature of the event…it was a crazy hectic couple of days where people were forced to operate in circumstances that they would not normally operate in….then you go back to your normal regular life. One thing that was great that came out of the event was that with us being on the news – we were getting emails and phone calls from people I went to elementary school with…junior high…highschool, college…Hebrew school – that I had not talked to in years and it was really fantastic to catch up and find out what had happened with those people – and I have actually stayed in contact more with friends I have recontacted me because of the Tsunami then with the people that we had met in this incredible moment of tragedy.

INTERVIEW: People talk about survivor guilt. How have you experienced that?

FAYE WACHS: One of my friends has given me a reality check on that. I was telling her that I did not really feel like a survivor. Because we didn’t get hurt at all. We got scratches and bumps and bruises. And some mosquito bites. But nothing serious. And we were both ok. And kind of looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you make it SURVIVED UNSCATHED.’ That was sort of the reality check I needed…I think it has actually led to feelings of euphoria…I go outside and it is a beautiful day and I appreciate it more…because I am thinking, WOW – the sky is blue..the birds are singing… I am alive and if things had gone otherwise, it might not be. And so I think it has actually made me feel really good about my life

(end of excerpt)

You can

UPDATE from SURVIVOR DAVE LOWE

2005-12-27T15:00:00.000+08:00

Dave Lowe sent me his journal entry from December 26. Dave was in the Maldives when the Tsunami hit (see his story below). He is not off to Thailand to be a part of the commemoration of the Tsunami.

Here is Dave's journal entry, with reflections and unexpected meetings...

Checking in for my Air Asia flight to Phuket, I noticed a group of men standing around in shabby grey matching suits with identical red pins on their lapels. On closer inspection, I saw that it was a smiling portrait of Kim Il Sung, and the wearers were none other than the North Korean national football team, off to play a round of friendlies. As they stood there, blinking in the bright lights of Bangkok International Airport, looking at the corn-rowed, tattooed and tanned tourists with cell phones pressed to their ears, fiddling with IPODs and fondling their partner's exposed flesh in a most un-Stalinist way, the North Koreans pretended not to be impressed, or stunned, by the internet cafes and NIKON ads and HENNESSY XO commercials blasting out of Duty Free. They had to: 3 minders were watching them like hawks.

When the flight was delayed, I took a seat next to two of the players, who only grunted when I asked them if they were Korean. A few minutes of silence followed, and then the new flight time was displayed as an hour after the scheduled departure time, I mimed the new time by pointing at my watch and dragging my finger to the 6. The three minders went for a cigarette break, and the two players chatted in shaky English; turns out all the knew was a hearty HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! and we chuckled at the passing circus of backpacker freaks, swishing past in pirate pants and trailing BO.

When the flight was finally called, I found myself sitting next to the two players again, and safely sitting behind the minders (who were unable to be reseated to watch the team from behind) the two players shyly said hello, and announced their team positions "Goalie," said one; "Striker," said the other. I handed them my business card. They studied the address, grunted, and put them in the pocket behind Kim Il Sung.

When the cabin crew came through selling drinks, Goalie and Striker had only a wad of Won, (sadly, no clever fake 100 dollar bills, rumoured to be produced en masse in North Korea) so I bought them each a Coke and they slurped it down in an instant. When I pulled my passport out, they snatched it out of my hands, and curiously looked at all the stamps inside. Tokyo. Frankfurt . Singapore. When they saw my birthplace as NYC, they gasped: had an American really just bought them a Coke?

There was a moment of muttering, but then they shyly handed me their passports, and I flipped through them; both Striker and Goalie were 19 years old, and looked like they were almost 35 (their faces were lined with wrinkles) Then, as we settled in for the flight, I asked Goalie if he had any North Korean money for me to look at. He pulled out his wallet again, and handed me a 100 Won bill. When I handed it back, he refused it, and I refused his gesture, before he grunted and forced me to take it. I held it in my hand for a minute, but Goalie got more and more nervous, and eventually took the bill from my hand and put it in my jacket pocket.

Now it was Strikers turn to be nervous. But not for himself; he was clearly berating his friend Goalie for his lack of respect for his country's leader, handing over a bill to an American. Ten minutes went by, the argument got more heated, and suddenly Striker leaned over, took the bill out of my pocket, unfolded it, and pointed to the picture of Kim Il Sung.
"He is our father. I'm sorry."

Striker then folded the bill up and pushed it back inot Goalie's pocket. Satisfied, he folded his arms across his chest and then I was his best friend: he asked me what ranking Man United had; Real Madrid, and who David Beckham was married to. This went on and on as our plane touched down at Phuket and taxiied to the terminal.

The 3 minders had gotten off first, and the three of us walked to the baggage claim, laughing like old friends, until we reached the ground floor. Then, the smiles faded, and the two men fell silent in face of their minders, who eyed me like a hawk. Ten uncomfortable minutes passed, as the bags popped out, and as I pushed my cart out of the terminal, I saw a wicked grin flicker across the faces of Striker and Goalie, who had their back turned defiantly to their team. "Happy New Year," they whispered.

An hour later, I stumbled out of my taxi at Poseidon Bungalows, a Swedish run resort to the south of Khao Lak. As I tried to fall asleep, it was impossible: it was the first time in a year I had slept near the sea (the last time had been on a gasoline and sewage soaked beach in the Maldives, listening to people lose their minds) Eventually I got up and went down to the beach to find an elderly Swedish couple already there, unable to sleep either. It wasnt jetlag; the year before they had narrowly survived the tsunami as their bungalow at that very spot had collapsed all around them. They had been washed out the window and clung to trees as the waves swept in, flattening the mangroves, and had eventually, after 4 days in hospital, returned to their little town in central Sweden, where they had to break a window to get in their house; they had lost everything, even their housekeys.

"We had to hitchhike home when we got to Stockholm , imagine that, at our age," the wife chuckled.

We sat and talked most of the night, happy to see the sun rise behind us in the steamy jungle.
'We know that jungle well," remarked the man. "we lived there for 2 days."

After breakfast, I hopped on a moped and sped off north to Bang Sak, one of the most affected beach areas in Thailand. Even a year after the waves, dark green creepers that have grown over much of the debris can hardly cover up the damage; a short walk on the beach reveals a swimming pool, full of large, western sized shoes; a single wall with a dive map painted on it for islands off the coast; and room markers pointing in odd directions, to bungalows that no longer exist.

Even the beach still reveals objects: I found a shampoo bottle from the Chong Fah resort, one of the largest there before the 26th of December, now only a memory marked on maps; even the concrete foundations are gone.

Even further down the coast are remains of whole Thai villages, now just row upon row of white military style houses, with shiny tin roofs and OXFAM and UNICEF posters hanging from trees. The beach front at Bag Sak has been rebuilt, and the local gangs of teenagers race down them on their souped up Suzukis, although it will take years for the palm trees to regrow; the waves even ripped them down, leveled the beach and flattened the reef offshore.

Everyone here has a story to tell the day the sea disappeared.

'I clung to that pole, over there," points a street vendor selling Coke in plastic bags. "I couldn't find my daughter, but lucky, she survived."

A hotel clerk at the Le Meridien remembers how the waters smashed into her hotel, and she was trapped upstairs, as children she had wished Merry Christmas too had disappeared.
Another woman working in a handicraft remembered how she ran to the hills as the waves demolished her shop. She jumped into a lake without thinking and survived. Her friends who hesitated died.

"Lucky," she says as she hears I had survived too, touching my arm gently. "Lucky."
Another bellman at the Similana Hotel slaps me on the back, "you got hit by Christmas tree too?" he asks incredulously, as he recounted the morning when the lobby's fir tree was lifted up and both of us were hit by it.

Perhaps the saddest stories are the ones no one will ever know. The remains of the Sofitel Magic Lagoon resort, once one of the top resorts on the coast, is still there, even after over 200 guests died in their rooms, and 400 bodies were pulled off the beach. Just one security guard is on duty there, watching for journalists eager to jump the fence, take pictures, or dig for clues to get information about the tragedy that is now being fought out in the courts. Only the coconut trees there are the witnesses to the horrors of that day. Most bear scars from the waves, and others have since died from salt poisoning.

Further away, I see a wealthy Thai man with binoculars looking out to sea. He is looking for a person to buy his land; he doesnt want a joint venture, he just wants out. He points with a stick to a point 2 meters up the nearest coconut tree, the height of the water that day. "If you know someone who buy, I give good commission."

But the longer you stay along the Andaman coast, the more you start to realize something: almost everyone in tourist shops and bars have the same tsunami survival story, told in the same detail, and with the same outcome. You mention this to your hotel manager and they shake their heads, "Yes, many people use it to sell handicrafts, motorbike rentals, drugs...."
Despite this, there are more Mental Health agencies than photo agencies, more FOR SALE signs than hotels here, and more touts than tourists. Khao Lak was dealt a particularly harsh blow, and its the locals who werent able to fly home after the disaster. They were the ones who found bodies in back gardens, fishing boats rammed through temples, and cars piled up like firewood. Most hotels have only 30% occupancy, at a time when it should be 100%.

"Maybe next year people will forget," says a taxi driver with a sigh. "Or maybe the year after."
The next morning, the mood is somber on the ferry as it pulls into Phi Phi island harbour. Its Christmas day, and oldtimers who know the island well, gasp: you can see right through the island now, all the way to the other side; years of development had been obliterated in seconds as not one but two waves smashed together on the narrow isthmus; killing almost 1,000 people. Even though a year has passed, most of the island is still in ruins.

The 26th of December dawns clear and beautiful, and an uncharacteristic quiet spreads across the narrow lanes and alleys where pirated DVDs and trinkets are usually sold; many shops are closed to remember.

The memorial ceremony takes place at the foot of a large Banyan tree, where the 20 foot waves crashed ashore. Three thousand people gather, all wearing white, clutching flowers and bouquets of white roses. Suddenly a helicopter appears, and the Deputy Prime Minister hops out to give a speech, hold a minute of silence, and pray with a row of saffron robed monks, before he hops back onto his helicopter and flies back to Krabi.

The service is over, and afterwards, family and friends slowly wander down to the beach to wade into the lapping waves, where they offer private prayers to the sea, before tossing in fragrant orchids. Most weep openly, and some collapse on the sand, in tears.

Suddenly, the sea starts to withdraw, rapidly, leaving the turquoise lagoon almost empty of water. Survivors of that terrible day turn white, and look at each other in panic.
"Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen," announces a man through a loudspeaker. "It is the normal low tide, nothing to be afraid."

An hour later, when the water has returned, three long tail boats arrive, and offload 500 coconut saplings. A human chain forms, and then, the new plants are passed, one by one, down the line where they will be replanted in the most devastated part of the island.

The afternoon passes slowly; families continue to stand in the sea, tossing in flowers and prayers, while tourists a few meters away go about their holidays, sunbathing, chatting away, and drinking beer.

A restaurant manager recounts how he clung to a palm tree as his restaurant and staff were drowned. "I still keep my suitcase packed each day, just in case I have to leave," he says.
"I didn't notice anything," sniffs a woman from Europe when a traveller asks her if she thinks the island felt sad.

A small group of international volunteers gather at Sunflower bar, rebuilt on the exact spot where it was before Boxing Day 2004, using driftwood and smashed boats as construction materials. Many had been there since December and had helped the local Thais rebuild their houses. Here, a girl works behind the bar on the same day her sister died behind it, serving her customers; another woman waits tables despite the loss of her granddaughter; and another guy works the DJ booth, having lost his brother in a bungalow a few dozen meters away. All around them is the buzz of chainsaws and pounding of hammers, as workers frantically build back the islands lost accommodation.

When the sun sets, and the here-to-party crowd at Ao Ton Sai hits the usual nightspots like Apache, pounding to the rythym of Twisted Sister and Nirvana, and the shirtless Thai touts are back to ogling the bikinied German girls ambling past, and the usual Hollywood movies are blasting out of restaurants, in English and Thai, there is one last remembrance ceremony.
Under a moonless sky, on the beach again, 1,000 rice paper lanterns are lit and released into the night. As relatives hold the lanterns in the air, waiting for the hot air to kick in and carry away the lanterns, tears roll down their cheeks: they are looking up into the sky, at hundreds of golden lanterns, floating higher and higher, creating a beautiful, three dimensional constellation, ever shifting as the winds shunt them back and forth. For over an hour, people wade out into the sea again, in the cold, dark waters, watching every last one, until the lanterns float so high that they merge with the stars and finally disappear.

Then, everyone at the distant bars began to toast each other, shouting, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" over and over, in six languages. And as I sat there with other survivors, we looked at each other and knew we were lucky to just be sitting there with our new friends, sharing a laugh. And then I remembered the bright eager faces of those North Korean football players, swimming in that foreign sea awash in internet cafes, cell phones, IPODS and credit cards, eager to make new friends and share some laughs, too, despite their country that was as alien to most of us as the moon. "happy New Year!" they had cried out at me in the plane. Happy New Year indeed.
Everyone, hope you have a great 2006!!!!

SURVIVOR: Mark Nelson

2005-12-26T15:07:00.000+08:00

Mark Nelson sends in his experience:

Rick, somehow I got to your website today...here is my story, perhaps we will meet this weekend ?

I was a laying in bed in the Ban Thai resort on Patong Beach, my friend was showering as we heard this huge noise, a fight? I looked out of our upgraded first floor room to the pool /patio and saw nothing but water, filled with small fish, and floating sundries. A broken pipe was my first thought, I pulled out bottles of shampoo trying to save the pool guy more work from the clean up. It just got worse and worse, run to the second floor came a yell in a foreign language, I ran thru our room and we dashed up the back flight of stairs as wave 2 or 3 swept around our hotel..I went into the water to pull out a man, let me get you to your room I said, this is not my hotel he responded, where did you come from?, I was just walking on the beach and now Im here came his response thru many thankful tears, his legs were mangled, I wrapped him in a bed sheet from a toppled maids cart and set him in the lobby, I never saw him again when I returned a boat was sitting where the lobby bench had been.I walked out and took photos of Starbucks(same as your shots), we stood there at the same exact same time the day before spending too much on expensive coffee now it was empty, not even a cash register..and more spooky.... no people, where was everyone? We flew out the next day after spending the night on the other side of the island with Thai friends. I flew home, two weeks later I brokedown during a tsunami benefit as I reviewed my pictures again and again. I took a month off work, got intensive therapy and support from friends, and meds, and became a mental hermit for a long time.

I have returned currently in BKK and off to Phuket 12/25 for the anniversary, Ill be in the red and white target shirt,.... same bed, same room, same hotel trying to chase away the memories that have haunted me for the past year. Mark Nelson
Christmas 2005

SURVIVOR: Dave Lowe

2005-12-25T14:56:00.000+08:00

Hi Rick,

I’m also a tsunami survivor (Maldives) and was wondering if u r participating in the 1st anniversary in some way. I’m staying in Khao Lak, Phuket, and Phi Phi for the anniversary, and was wondering if there are any other events going on during that time? I’m sending you my account of what I survived, written as soon as I was rescued and got back to Male, the capital.

Regards, Dave Lowe

MY STORY FROM MALDIVES

It was just after 11.00 am, a perfect Maldives day, 90 degrees, sunny, and no clouds. I was in my office working, at the northern end of the island, which was 20 meters across, fighting a hangover from a hard night in the bar that had stretched to 4 am.

I was woken up that morning at 7 am by an earthquake, but being from California, it seemed like nothing, and I did not even think of a tsunami. I was half listening to a colleague whine about a missing pen, then I heard a strange bump against the door, and people outside were screaming, 'the children! The children!!... I lept to the door to find seawater seeping under it, and it took all my strength to push it open. when I looked outside, I could see that the ocean was now level with our island, and to my horror, a wall of water, boiling, frothing, angry as hell, was bearing straight down at us...there was a strange smell in the air, like death, and a weird mist that looked like thick fog.....I stopped breathing, and ran.

But where do you run when you are 1 meter above sea level, and there’s deep water on all sides?? I ran towards reception, where guests and staff were screaming and rooted to the spot as the first waves began to hit the island. the furniture was already being swept away, and the guest shop window exploded, showering glass into the water where guests without shoes were trying to stand up.....within seconds the water was up to my waist, and as I braced myself for what seemed like certain death, the tsunami wave slammed into the resort, crushing me against the walls of the executive offices...my cell phone, keys, resort ID, watch and sunglasses were ripped off.

As I desperately inched my way to reception, with water roiling and boiling so violently I could hardly stand up. it was like a vortex, and I grabbed hold of children who were being washed out to sea and who’s parents were missing, and threw them up onto the reception counter, as I looked back to see if I could help anyone else, the full force of the tsunami hit, crushing palm trees and instantly destroying the executive offices whose windows smashed, and then the walls collapsed, sending staff trapped inside (including my assistants) computers, TV's, filing cabinets, desks and broken glass and shattered wood straight out to sea. I grabbed hold of a pillar as the wave struck, and the water was now up to my chest... most guests were clinging to anything they could find, and some had horrible injuries from the smashed glass that was everywhere (I was barefoot and so were most of the guests) I saved an 80 year old woman who washed by in front of me, just before she went out to sea, and as I could no longer hang on, I hauled myself up to the reception counter, where a security guard handed me his walkie talkie and fled to the roof.

A guest with a cut so deep on his leg, his bone was sticking out, was pointed out to me, and I quickly grabbed a towel and bandaged it and elevated his leg as there was no doctor....we were covered in blood as we tried to stop the bleeding, which nearly killed him, but luckily it stopped in time, his wife grabbed my neck so tight I could hardly breathe, screaming at me in French, and the man went into shock and passed out. As wave after wave smashed against the resort, we watched, helpless, as, in the distance, we could see many of the 50 water bungalows that faced the reef disintegrating, instantly turning to matchwood as the waves pounded them, dumping guests, four poster beds, TVs and air conditioners into the water so rough it was like a washing machine gone mad. the debris, also from the collapsed restaurant over the water, and planking from the boardwalk, began to surge through reception, and my fear was so intense that I wasn’t thinking even if I was going to die, I knew I was going to die. I just didn’t know when.

All I could think was how much higher did the water have to go before we were all swept away? we couldn’t tell if the island was sinking or the sea rising.... a receptionist colleague screamed at me WHAT IS HAPPENING??? WHAT IS HAPPENING??? as we desperately tried to pull ourselves together, we heard two gas canisters explode from the restaurant, blowing off part of the roof, and then the water sports center and doctors clinic were crushed by another wave, where staff were clinging to the roof as the palm thatch disintegrated. we were lucky that not all the water bungalows collapsed, because the debris would have crushed us to death. as the only staff member there with a uniform and nametag at that end of the island, I was thrown in charge, and now with the walkie talkie I desperately tried to contact the other end of the island. there was no answer.

Then, as quickly as the water came up, it was gone, leaving fish flopping on the floor of the lobby and seaweed draped everywhere. I shouted at staff to get a guest list for a head count, and screamed at guests STAY OFF THE BEACH!! GET AWAY FROM THE JETTY!!! DO NOT MOVE!!!! as guests regrouped, I looked out to sea in the opposite direction, where my eyes popped out of their head: there was another wave coming right back at us, even bigger than the first, and even worse, full of air conditioners, refrigerators, water heaters, mattresses deck chairs, and even people... GET BACK!!! THE WATERS COMING BACK!!!

I screamed as guests ran for things to grab hold of. when the 2nd wave hit, it was like titanic, and we desperately tried to hang on as the dangerous debris smashed its way through the lobby again. this was followed by two more waves, which were slightly smaller, and then silence. as I assembled guests together for a head count, a staff from the other end of the island ran in and said that there was a 50 foot wave coming, and we needed to get to the spa, where there was more shelter.

This set off the guests who wailed and screamed as they ran towards the new shelter, as I took up the rear; I heard a seaplane land, probably unaware of the danger. I ran like hell to the jetty, waving my arms to the pilots to tell them to go away....they did not see me, and landed.... as they tied up to the pontoon, I noticed an ominous wave heading straight for the plane, and like a horror movie, I actually saw the seaplane getting sucked under by the vortexes and eddies that were 20 feet across.... I screamed at the cabin crew who was on the dock, frantically trying to untie the rope, as the engines screaming, got closer and closer to the water.

I got down on my hands and knees, covering my head with my hand to prevent injury, screaming into the walkie talkie to see if anyone could contact the pilots....I was just waiting for the engines to smash into the water and see the plane flip over, when the crew cut the rope, jumped on board, and the plane bobbed up and took off.

As I watched it take off, they dipped their wings to show us help was on the way....I looked behind me to see a 5th wave bearing straight down, and as I ran back to reception, I was too late, and I was lifted off my feet and carried by it straight into the lobby again. when the wave subsided, I ran to the spa, passing the GM's house, where his son's nanny was nearly being washed away, I rescued her and his son, carried them to safety, where 60 terrified French, Italian and UK guests were huddled in total shock. quickly I set up a triage unit to treat the broken bones and horrible cuts.

Half the guests there were missing family, and were threatening me with death if I didn’t let them get to see where they were, but the island had been cut in half, a river of water was now bisecting it, both ends of the island had lost 50 meters of land (and had come within 10 meters of washing away reception) and coconut trees were being washed out to sea. for the next 6 hours, we rode out wave after wave as the sea gradually calmed down, but at least 5 warnings came to us via radio that a huge wave was still coming, 100 feet, 200 feet high.

Guests suffered in the strong sun, and we found a tarp to create a shelter for the 15 children without parents. that evening, when we had got all guests together, we sandbagged the restaurant and set up all night patrols to watch the sea. no one slept that night, we were terrified of a wave hitting in darkness, and all night we just huddled in corners waiting for sunrise. someone produced a flashlight, and with the guests secure, we checked out our rooms, which has been totally demolished, everything washed out to sea.

When the sun came up, there were champagne bottles, passports, candy bars, dinner plates, business cards and hundreds of branches and tree trunks washed up on the beach. within 4 hours we had evacuated the guests on two huge speedboats and as soon as the last guest left, the staff took off our nametags, and just burst into tears. We didn’t get off the island until 2 days later, and we salvaged what we could of our belongings, some things washed up on the beach, some things wrapped around trees, and some things covered in mud. we showered in the sea and rationed the bottled water we had left. when we boarded the seaplanes to get back to Male, and we flew over the destroyed island, the full devastation was clear over 100 rooms demolished, no restaurants intact, and debris and trash was everywhere. it wasn’t until that evening that we heard the death toll and the devastation elsewhere.

Tsunami Survivors Mark First Anniversary (from AP Press)

2005-12-24T21:31:00.000+08:00

By ALISA TANG, Associated Press Writer

PHUKET, Thailand - Survivors launched a boat laden with flowers, candles and incense in the first ceremony Saturday to mark one year since the Indian Ocean tsunami swept away at least 216,000 lives in one of the world's worst natural disasters in memory.
Peter Pruchniewitz, 68, who was swept from his hotel room and lost a friend to the waves, returned from Zurich, Switzerland to attend the ceremonies. Asked why, he said simply, "to remember."

The commemoration in Thailand was the first of hundreds to be held on the grim anniversary in the dozen countries hit by the earthquake-spawned waves last Dec. 26.
Amid the mourning, survivors and officials were taking stock of the massive relief operation and peace processes in Sri Lanka and Indonesia's Aceh province, the two places hardest hit by the tsunami. In both cases, success has been mixed.
At Bang Niang beach in Thailand's Phang Nga province, mourners including Western tourists who were caught in the disaster placed offerings into a brightly colored, bird-shaped boat that was floated into the Andaman Sea as members of the Moken, or sea gypsy, tribe chanted and pounded drums.

The Moken believe the ceremony helps ward off evil spirits.

A private memorial service for British citizens and two candlelight ceremonies were planned for later Saturday on the nearby island of Phuket.

In hardest-hit Indonesia, workers on Saturday scaled the minarets of the imposing 16th century mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, replacing missing tiles and slapping on a fresh coat of whitewash in preparation for special services on Monday.

Thousands of survivors have been rehoused in Aceh, but agencies say they are only about 20 percent of the total number needing new homes and the landscape is still one of devastation in many places.

But the tsunami did bring one positive side effect in Aceh — it resulted in a cease-fire between the government and guerillas that ended a decades-old separatist conflict.

No such progress was made in Sri Lanka, where disputes over aid delivery and an upsurge in violence blamed on separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have dashed hopes that the tsunami would end the country's long-running civil conflict.
On Saturday, troops patrolled the streets of the capital, Colombo, amid boosted security for tsunami ceremonies.

Exactly one year ago Monday, the most powerful earthquake in four decades — magnitude 9 — ripped apart the ocean floor off Sumatra island, displacing millions of tons of water and sending giant waves crashing into Indian Ocean coastlines from Malaysia to east Africa.

A dozen countries were hit by surging walls of water powerful enough to level buildings and sweep small ships miles inland. Entire villages in Indonesia and Sri Lanka were swept away, five star resorts in Thailand were swamped, and in the Maldives whole islets temporarily disappeared.
At least 216,000 people were killed or disappeared in the waves, according to an assessment by The Associated Press of government and credible relief agency figures for each country hit — though the

United Nations puts the number at least 223,000.
The true toll will probably never be known — many bodies were lost at sea and in some cases the populations of places struck were not accurately recorded.
Almost 400,000 houses were reduced to rubble and more than 2 million people left homeless, the U.N. says. The livelihoods of 1.5 million were swept away.
The world responded with donor pledges of some $13.6 billion. Rebuilding has started in some places, and fishing boats and seeds have been handed out to kick-start ruined village economies.

But many refugee camps are still full and residents rely on aid handouts to survive. Concerns linger about the pace of rebuilding.
Former

President Clinton, the U.N. special envoy for tsunami recovery, said much work remained to be done and the international community faces a "critical challenge" in following through on its promises of help.
"One year ago ... millions of ordinary people across the globe rallied to the immediate aid of communities devastated by the tsunami," Clinton said in remarks prepared for the anniversary and published Saturday in the International Herald Tribune.
"Now our collective challenge is to finish the job, to leave behind safer, more peaceful and stronger communities."
____
AP reporters Meraiah Foley in Phang Nga, Thailand, Chris Brummitt in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Dilip Ganguly in Colombo, Sri Lanka contributed to this report.

One Year Ago Thoughts

2005-12-23T13:28:00.000+08:00

And so - another Christmas has come. For many - preparing stockings - trees and presents highlight the days. But for 230,000 families and more around the globe (the number of people who lost their lives), this Christmas is an anniversary of what happened a year ago. Water. Oh so much water. And sadness.

For me - it was a few days to go on holiday for reflection that turned in to an experience I will never forget. But I walked away with only bad dreams. For a million other people - the heartache of loss lives on. And to those families and friends - I wish you peace and friendship during this very tough week ahead!

"What are you going to do on December 26?" so many friends have asked? "What will you do to remember?"

How can you honor a day where so many people died? What gives justice to such an event? Time? Writing? Sittong on a beach and watching water - in defiance of what this might best did to so many? What would really be the right thing to do.

It will be personal to many.

If you experienced the Tsunami - and you are spending a day - a week of reflection - I would like to hear your stories!

For me - I have not been back to a beach for a year. Even though I live on the island of Singapore. I have been pushing myself to return. And yet - I have to decide.

How will you remember? Or forget?

SURVIVOR: Dennis Hoogenkamp

2005-12-22T08:29:00.000+08:00

DENNIS HOOGENKAMP writes a series of emails about his TSUNAMI EXPERIENCES and work in Phuket, Kao Lak, takuapa and Aceh in Sumatra.

This first email was my first contact to most of my friends, two days after the disaster. The rest of the emails I have written during my time in Phuket, Kao Lak, Takuapa and Aceh (Sumatra) in the weeks following December 26th 2004. I wish everybody strenght who has been involved in this terrible event and respect to all you heroes who were there with me during the rescue, recovery and relief missions. Email is always welcome, to share experiences, feelings and stories. Dennis.hoogenkamp@welho.com

Onderwerp: Situation Phuket
Datum: dinsdag 28 december 2004 5:01

Hello Everybody,

Sorry it had to take such a long time for me to send you this email, but as you can guess, the situation here is quite horrible, phones were not working and mobile network was down and is still down all the time. Would like to let all of you know that I survived this terrible event and was an eyewitness to most of the horror stories you have seen on TV.

Continued. Read more here: SURVIVOR: Dennis Hoogenkamp

SURVIVING PARENTS - and the story of a daughter who did not - Leanne Cox

2005-11-27T09:41:00.000+08:00

Read the story of Leanne Cox – and 3 heartfelt blog postings by her parents as they search for their missing daughter. The posts by Leanne’s mother were originally posted on http://www.tsunamistories.net and reposted by Rick Von Feldt on www.phukettsunami.blogspot.com.

The Asian tsunami on 26 December 2004 claimed the lives of 149 people who are British citizens. Graduate Leanne Cox, 23, from Hartlepool, arrived in Thailand on Christmas Eve and was staying at a guesthouse with a friend when the disaster devastated the area. She was on a working and backpacking trip to Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.

Miss Cox and her friend were in their room, having returned from breakfast when the waves hit. Her friend survived.

In a eulogy read to the mass inquest her father Alan and mother Jean Dogan said Leanne had "grown into a young woman who had got the priorities of her life right. She knew the value of true friendship, true love and of her family".
It added: "You are unique Leanne and irreplaceable. The loss of you has shattered our lives and nothing in our world will ever be the same again."

MESSAGE FROM FATHER, ALAN COX ON January 7, 2005:

To our family what has happened is over-powering. And although now our thoughts are only with our precious Leanne we want to say how sorry we are for everyone who has lost some-one and for all those who are suffering.

This tragedy was not caused by man's hatred of man, was not something we did to ourselves, but by our own world rising up against us and we believe that is why it touchs us all.

There is something we read once which says

'And when the light of reason fails
And fires burn the sea
Now in this age of confusion
I have need of your company'

We hope this web-site brings some comfort and a way to share. Miracles do happen and for that our hearts will be eternally hopeful.

Posted By Jean - Leanne's mum – January 22, 2005

Dear Leanne

Your story of that day Leanne is not one I can write. I was not there with you. It is not one you can write. You have not come home to tell it. But I hope one day one of your friends, who shared that terrible time, will write their story and that in their story you will play a big part. You were such a big part of everyone’s life who ever knew you.

What I can write about is my journey to find you. I was treated with such kindness and tenderness by everyone I met. They knew then I suppose what I am still finding difficult to begin to accept weeks later. But at that time, and in that place, I had only a desperate longing to be near you.

Your Uncle Mike and I arrived in Phuket about seven in the evening. It was New Year’s Day. Our plane had been somewhere over Hungary I think when we passed from one year into another. The pilot had announced it over the tannoy but apart from one couple who silently toasted each other, there were no celebrations. What thoughts everyone on that plane were locked into I have no idea, but they were certainly not joyful.

When we arrived at Phuket airport the British Embassy staff had set up a desk to meet families such as ours. A nice young man, Alan he was called (your life seems to have a lot of Alan’s in it) took me to one side. He looked at your picture on the missing poster we’d made for you and I saw the tears come into his eyes. ‘She’s very lovely’ he said and took my hand and, not for the last time in Thailand, I felt overwhelmed by the concern on the face of a complete stranger. Alan was working the airport shift he explained and as soon as he finished he would take your details back to the Embassy Headquarters and let them know that I had arrived and that once again they would go through the lists of people that they had identified and those that were in the hospitals. That there was nothing more I could do and that I should try and get some rest and report to the British Consul first thing in the morning. Alan arranged for a driver to take us from the airport to a hotel. I must admit I was a bit afraid to look out of the car window at first because of some of the reports back home. I don’t know what I expected to see but Phuket town look quite normal, I suppose we were away from the beach areas. I say quite normal apart that that is for an eerie lack of people.

I rang home when I got to the hotel to let Dad and Lisa know that Mike and I had arrived safely and tell them what was happening. Dad had been contacted by Jodie and Peter who were also in Phuket looking for Peter’s brother Ross, who had apparently been with you all on Christmas Day. I rang Jodie and arranged to meet them the next morning, Sunday, at eight ‘o’ clock.

The British Consul headquarters had been set up at a place called ‘The Courtyard’ some distance out of the main town centre. It was a shopping centre, it looked very new, all the shops were closed but there was a small café where you could get a drink. At eight ‘o’ clock all the embassy staff were having their daily meeting so we sat waiting and found Jodie and Peter.

When the meeting had finished, a woman called Kate – it is after this point that I stop remembering everyone’s names - took me and Mike onto the terrace of the restaurant and slowly and carefully told me that they had very little hope of finding anyone else alive on Phi Phi Island, that it had been so badly devastated, that they had checked again all their lists and that you, angel, were still missing. They left me there, Mike and Kate, on my own for a little time. I think so that what I had been told could sink in. I remember looking at the trees and flowers from that high veranda and I could feel the heat even at that time of the day. It was very quiet and I looked at the clock and thought, this time last week you had maybe just finished breakfast and were walking back to the your Guest House. I could see you walking down the path, chatting away.

People came around me. Kate, Mike, an American counsellor who stared into my eyes and a man who just came and held my hand and stared at the floor. There was just nothing to say.

After a time they wanted Peter and I to go to the City Hall in Phuket to file our missing person’s reports and give DNA samples. The Embassy driver took us. Here, away from the peace of the Courtyard, everything was full of activity. All the embassies had set up centres, there were crowds of people, all nationalities, and there was that terrible, sad wall of posters, that wall that I have since learnt has been called the wall of despair. Peter and I were hurried through the crowds, passed the journalists, passed the people handing out water, passed the medical centres into a building and upstairs into a long room. Here down both sides of the room and down the centre were trestle tables; flags showing which country the table belonged to. People behind the desks, mountains of paper. Peter and I were guided, pushed through the crowds to the British desk ‘Are you together?’ ‘No – we each need a form’. ‘Fill this in’. Another of those forms, the same as at the airport, a missing person report form. Name? Date of Birth? Distinguishing marks? Passport number? What was she wearing? Where was she last seen? My name. Are you the next of kin? What relationship are you? Mother. I’m her mother. I think I was screaming inside. And sad, tired eyes would look at the form and then at me then wish themselves anywhere away from there.

Some woman put her arm around me and with Peter on the other side we went to one of the medical centres to give our DNA samples. Hair, nails, mouth swabs, another form. More faces, devoid of anything I felt but horror for what had happened but nothing I realised later to the faces I still had to see. The woman with her arm round me was crying now. Peter and I were just held onto each other, acting on some other plane. We put our posters on that wall there for Ross and you. I kissed your picture. We left for Krabi.

I cannot write more now my darling but I will continue my story soon.

Sleep tight. You are, you always have been and you always will be my precious little daughter.

With love Mum xxx

Posted By Jean - Leanne's mum – February 3, 2005

Dear Leanne

I don’t know if you were ever in Phuket. Your last email to me on the Thursday before Christmas just mentions that you had arrived in Krabi so I’m not sure from which town you eventually got the ferry to Koh Phi Phi on Christmas Eve. But Krabi is where they took the majority of people they brought off that island and so it was to Krabi that the Embassy now took us.

The drive from Phuket to Krabi takes about two and a half hours. I don’t remember speaking. I don’t remember Peter speaking. I did look at his face. It was just frozen. Mine must have looked the same. We sat either side of Jodie in the back of that car lost in our own tragedy. It is impossible to describe what I was feeling. I just kept thinking that this wasn’t happening, that somewhere you were there. That you were lost in Krabi and that you had just been missed and that I would see you in the street. I searched everybody’s face as we drove into that town. You weren’t there.

It took us sometime to find Krabi’s City Hall, a much smaller building than in Phuket, and as we stepped from the car it was like a huge thick cloud wrapped itself around us. You could almost choke on the sadness. No embassies here. No medical centres. No journalists. I don’t remember seeing any other Europeans, just lots of Thai people standing in long queues. I saw Mike stumble and start to cry. I think it was fear at what was to come and what he had to do.

Outside of the main entrance there were two boards with pictures of bodies. Like there had been on the Internet. I’d never looked at them there though, even though Lisa had asked me to before I left. She thought it would help prepare me for what I might have to face. But between Mike and I it had been unspoken, he knew I could not bear to look at those pictures. And so your poor Uncle Mike and Jodie searched for you and Ross while Peter and I went into the building.

The Embassy in Phuket had told us to register you and Ross as missing persons again in Krabi but no one at the City Hall could speak much English. All that we were told was that we should go to the Chinese Temple where – I think everyone knows what the Temple was being used for. I don’t know how I was still standing. I just knew I had to do everything to try and find you and it was as if some force had taken me over and was moving me along. As we came out of the City Hall I looked at the main doors, they were covered with photographs. So many of them. It would have been disrespectful to cover anybody’s picture so Peter and I made a space at the bottom of one of the doors where we could put the posters of you and Ross next to each other.

We had to park some distance from the Chinese Temple. Outside of the main entrance white canopies had been erected. Here there were many more boards of photographs. I don’t know how many altogether. I sat on a grass verge in the middle of the road while Mike, Peter and Jodie walked up and down those aisles. Behind the boards were a number of tables. I think people were reporting missing people, looking at more pictures. It all seemed to be desperate. I couldn’t actually see the temple from where I was sitting; I hoped it was very beautiful. Then a party of people, I don’t know which nationality they were, were escorted in lines through the gates into the temple grounds. Like prisoners, I thought, being lead into a concentration camp. I suppose in a way they were, they were going into another kind of hell.

After a time a young Thai man, who spoke perfect English because he had been brought up in America, organised for Peter and I to go to a hotel on the outskirts of town to give our DNA again. It was a lovely hotel. The grounds very lush and tropical. The same forms, the same routine, the same kindness and concern. The same wish for good luck in our search. And then I would yo-yo again between despair and hope. The despair of organised Phuket and the hope of chaotic Krabi where I just wanted you to be.

A young girl, she couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen, took your picture and frantically started looking through this book that seemed to register details of people they had found. Descriptions of clothing, jewellery, height, weight, sex, any distinguishing marks. The book listed from 457 to 550. I read everyone. You. weren’t there. Then our American/Thai guide phoned his friend at Krabi hospital. I spoke to her, she knew of you because Lindsey had never stopped asking for you, had never stopped looking for you while she was in that hospital.

Then back to the Chinese Temple. Just keep moving. More questions, more forms, one of the forensic team came out and spoke to me, about your clothing, about your ring, Alen’s ring with it’s loving message. I could tell everyone else, Mike, Jodie, Peter, they had had enough. Peter looked ill. But I had to do it Leanne; I had to go to the hospital. I had to know that I had done everything I could in Krabi before we left. So off we went, and while the others waited for me, I filled in another form, left another picture. I was begging them to produce a miracle.

And then we settled back into the car for that long drive back to Phuket. You were not in any of the hospitals, you were not on any of those boards, and I knew that I had to see this journey to the end, that I had to get onto Phi Phi Island.

Let’s rest now my darling,snuggled in the back of that car.

I love you

Mum xxxx

SURVIVOR: Gene Kim and Faye Wachs - Divers in Koh Phi Phi

2005-10-30T14:56:00.000+08:00

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN MORNING interviews survivors Gene Kim and his wife Faye Wachs. They were scuba diving off the shores of Koh Phi Phi Islands in Thailand. Suddenly, while diving, they dropped 40 meters. The interview describes what happened. (Originally aired on Aired December 30, 2004 - 08:00 ET. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.)

see here for ONLINE TRANSCRIPT

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Utter devastation. Ahead, the first look at the hardest hit areas shows the tsunami almost left nothing behind. The coastline itself washed away. Bogged down -- the money and trained relief workers are available. Ahead, the U.N. point man on what's holding them up. And trapped beneath the tsunami. Ahead, a tale of divers pulled deeper and deeper into the water, now safe and back home on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back.

Bill and Soledad are off today.

I'm Rick Sanchez.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

It is day five of the tsunami disaster and the extent of the death and destruction continues to grow. One official says there are so many bodies, they've stopped counting. And the spread of disease may become an even greater danger for survivors.

Here is what we now know. The total death toll stands at more than 80,000. The U.N. says one in four people are dead in parts of the Indonesian city of Aceh. U.N. rescue workers arrived in Aceh Province on Wednesday to begin their efforts.

The U.S. State Department says it is receiving 400 calls an hour from people looking for loved ones.

And Indian authorities have issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas. But scientists say there is no new major seismologic activity.

SANCHEZ: As the extent of the destruction grows, more pictures are coming in from this devastation set forth by this tsunami. These pictures that we've been showing from Malaysia show a family at the beach as they and their car are suddenly caught in the waves. Take a look. The children quickly are rushed to shore and held onto a fence for safety.

The United Nations is saying 65 people are dead in Malaysia from this disaster. Malaysia is among 11 countries that have been hit by the tsunami. And we're now getting an idea of how the tsunamis have changed the landscape of some of these affected areas, especially the ones very close to where the actual earthquake was. For example, Indonesia's west coast. Huge fields of mud have replaced entire villages. Washed out roads are all that remain in towns that have virtually disappeared.

The man who got some of this video is Mike Griffiths.

He's a conversationist who saw this devastation for himself in Indonesia.

And he's joining us now from Banda Aceh to bring us up to date.

Mike, thanks so much for joining us.

MIKE GRIFFITHS, LEUSER INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: What was your reaction when you first started looking, either with your own eye or through the lens of the camera, at these pictures?

GRIFFITHS: Well, I was stunned, actually. I never suspected that the devastation should be so complete. And I didn't believe that a tsunami itself could go so far inland. Some of the damage was complete right into about one and a half, two kilometers inland from the coast.

SANCHEZ: We're looking at this now, but it's hard for us to understand what we're looking at, because we don't know what was there before. So what we're looking at now are pictures of what looks to be remote little islands and peninsulas surrounded by water.

But what was there before what we're looking at now?

GRIFFITHS: What you had before was land and rice fields and coconut groves extending right to the coast. And it was really an emerald green kind of environment, very beautiful. And the infrastructure, of course, was complete. You had clearly defined roads and bridges and so on.

Now what you're left with are the pictures that you described to me, which I took two days ago.

SANCHEZ: Who lived there and what happened to them?

GRIFFITHS: Well, most of the people that lived near the coast, and that's, of course, the majority of people in this part of Aceh, as Indonesia, most people are either fishermen or rice planters. And these people were just completely, they have completely vanished. Literally, there are about four or five towns on the west coast with populations of at least 10,000 people, they have been eradicated. They have been literally wasted and they no longer exist, the villages and the people that lived there. SANCHEZ: By the way, we should mention to our viewers, that's the morning prayers that we're hearing in the background. That's being picked up by your microphone.

We were talking to Mike Chinoy earlier and he was saying it could be a 60 to 70 mile swathe of land along that coastline.

Is it that large?

GRIFFITHS: Oh, easily that large, yes. In fact, I'm working in kilometers. About 200 kilometers of coastline have been literally devastated. There's no buildings of any value left. And some of it wasn't just ordinary villages with nice, you know, stilts and thatched roofs. These were solid concrete structures which have been totally leveled. And all that you've got left are the...

SANCHEZ: I don't imagine...

GRIFFITHS: ... the foundations, and sometimes not even the foundations.

SANCHEZ: I don't imagine you've ever seen anything like this before, have you? Or even near it?

GRIFFITHS: No, nothing. No. I mean -- no. No, I've seen plane crashes, I've seen all sorts of problems and big floods. We had a flood a couple of years ago in Sumatra, which killed 300 people, but the scale of this is something which I don't think has ever been surpassed.

SANCHEZ: Conversationist -- conservationist Mike Griffiths joining us to bring us up to date on that.

Mike, we certainly thank you for taking time -- Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN has just learned the death toll in the tsunami disaster now stands at at least 115,000, nearly 80,000 of those just in Indonesia.

One California couple was scuba diving off Phuket, Thailand as the tsunami passed right over them.

Miguel Marquez spoke to them about their harrowing tale of survival at sea.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How to survive a tsunami -- for one lucky couple it was scuba diving directly in its path.

FAYE LINDA WACHS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were sucked down to 40 meters very quickly, which is deeper than you want to be diving with an open water certification.

MARQUEZ: Faye Linda Wachs and her husband Gene Kim were exploring a shipwreck about seven miles off Thailand's Phi Phi Islands when the tsunami swept past them.

GENE KIM, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: I consider myself a novice to intermediate diver. This is the first time I had to do an emergency ascent...

WACHS: Yes.

KIM: ... under unusual and harsh circumstances. So it was terrifying.

MARQUEZ: They attempted to surface by inflating their life vests, but the massive current of water racing toward Thailand's shore pulled them into deeper water.

KIM: I was getting tossed around. I bumped up a couple times against the wreck itself and swam up as hard as I could, looked at my gauge and I was still dropping.

MARQUEZ: They had just survived a tsunami. Only hours later, when they headed for their hotel, did they realize it.

WACHS: The island is essentially gone. We left paradise. It was a beautiful island. And we came back to just hell.

MARQUEZ: They helped rescue and care for the injured. With all their belongings swept out to sea, they returned home wearing only swimsuits, still counting themselves as lucky.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And to tell us more about their dramatic survival story, Faye and Gene are joining us now from our studios in Los Angeles.

And, first of all, guys, I'd just like to say welcome back to the U.S.

KIM: Thank you.

COLLINS: Faye, why don't you begin.

How are you guys doing?

WACHS: Well, we're very happy to be home, but we're also very, very tired.

COLLINS: I can imagine this ordeal, and I have heard your story and still just absolutely cannot believe it.

Gene, you were scuba diving off the shores of Koh Phi Phi Islands in Thailand. Suddenly you dropped 40 meters.

What sort of alarm bells went off in your head? KIM: The first was when the current was so strong that I got separated from my wife and the dive master. Things got totally whited out, meaning I couldn't -- I had no visibility, zero visibility. And I could feel myself kind of being tossed around. I looked down at my gauge as I was making my ascent and noticed that I was still dropping. So it was very, very scary.

We -- when we reunited back on the boat, we kind of talked about just how crazy things were down in the water and we ended up doing another dive and it wasn't until later in the afternoon when we returned to the harbor that we realized the tsunami had passed through the ocean where we were diving.

COLLINS: Faye, what was that like? I mean, you know, when you hear this, it's just unbelievable that you were actually out in the water and had no idea what had happened.

WACHS: Well, as we came into shore and we began to see the wreckage and we received a text message from one of the other divers' wives, who had just happened to climb to the topmost point of the island at that moment, saying catastrophe, it was a very surreal experience to be coming in and just seeing television sets, dressers, chairs floating by, just wreckage, entire platters of food that looked like they had just been set out in the restaurant and then eventually bodies floating by in the water.

It was unbelievable to go and see the island that we had just left that had been, I mean, truly, we had been going out on the boat saying this is such a beautiful place, what a beautiful day, and coming back and seeing it just completely destroyed and realizing just how truly lucky we had been.

COLLINS: Yes, and your hotel completely destroyed, I understand, as well.

WACHS: Yes, our room was flattened.

COLLINS: Wow!

Do you think, is it fair to say that by staying underwater where you were, that may have saved your life, Gene?

KIM: It's really, you know, I've thought about that a lot. It's tough to speculate on that, I think, with any certainty. All I'll say is that we were extremely lucky and it was just an incredibly eerie feeling knowing that something that terrible had passed over us and we were completely unscathed.

COLLINS: You haven't done a whole lot of diving, really, either. I mean I think I heard you say earlier that you're kind of a novice diver.

KIM: Yes. We started diving in 2000 and every year we like to go on, you know, at least one or two dives. And so going down to Thailand was real special for us, because it was an opportunity for us to kind of catch up on a lot of diving that we'd been missing. COLLINS: Will the both of you dive again?

WACHS: Oh, absolutely.

KIM: We'd like to go back to Thailand and revisit the island.

WACHS: We'd like to see the island rebuilt.

COLLINS: Yes.

And quickly tell me before we let you go, how did you contact your family? I mean how were you able to let everybody know that you were OK?

WACHS: Well, people on the island were great. Anyone who had a cell phone tried to help us call out. But unfortunately none of the signals were going through at that point. And it was probably almost 30, 36 hours before we were able to get to a phone. But once we -- because we were helping people, we were on the island a while. But when we got to land, the Thai government had set up an emigration point and they were providing free long distance phone calls to everyone. So we were able to then, at that point, call my parents -- we were able to get through to my parents and my best friend at that point. And she said that she was just going to call Gene's parents and all of our friends and let them know we were all right.

COLLINS: I can't imagine the relief that they must have felt when they heard the news.

KIM: Absolutely.

COLLINS: To the two of you, we're so thankful that you're all right and appreciate you sharing your story with us.

KIM: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Faye Wachs and Gene Kim.

Thanks again, guys.

SANCHEZ: The story of people really brings this thing to bear, doesn't it? The stories like those.

COSTELLO: And talk about the kindness of the people of Thailand, you know, providing long distance phone calls for free.

COLLINS: Right. Yes, after everything they'd been through.

COSTELLO: You just hear story after story about how wonderful people are in that area of the world.

COLLINS: You sure do.

COSTELLO: That's an amazing story.

I have other news to tell, though. COLLINS: OK.

COSTELLO: All right.

Now in the news -- good morning, everyone.

The Coast Guard is announcing plans to use dozens of buoys off U.S. coastlines to extend its security system. The Weather Service is agreeing to let the Coast Guard add transmitters to dozens of buoys sending signals from all large ships heading in and out of major U.S. ports. The program could be tested as early as next year, probably off of Florida's Gulf Coast.

State and local officials apparently know much more about al Qaeda surveillance activities here in the United States. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have released a new bulletin on what information the terror organization has been gathering and how. But federal officials say there is no evidence an attack is imminent.

The U.S. Army is waging a new battle, this one on the love front. The military is spending almost $2 million to save war torn marriages. The money being spent on a variety of programs, including counseling and vouchers for romantic getaways. Studies show divorce rates are higher than 20 percent among couples where one spouse has been sent off to war.

To the forecast center now and Chad -- and it's understandable, because they're away from each other for such a long period of time.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure. Of course. You grow apart anyway.

Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: It's been a week of agony for people all over the globe as we bring you their stories. The search for people caught in the catastrophe seems endless. For a man in Iowa, though, that means tracking down at least 50 relatives, 50. His story is ahead.

COLLINS: Also, health officials say disposing of the dead should not be a priority. So why isn't the word getting out? We'll talk about that next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.

I'm Rick Sanchez.

This just in to CNN.

The new death toll from the tsunami, more than 115,000 people, with nearly 80,000 in Indonesia alone now, the newest numbers coming in just moments ago. And a new terror is gripping those who are trying to survive the after effects of this tsunami. Medical personnel are bracing against the massive outbreak of deadly disease certain to follow in the coming weeks.

Joining us from the CNN Center to try and shed some light on the medical response is Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky.

She is of Emory University's division of infectious diseases.

Doctor, thanks for joining us.

DR. PHYLLIS KOZARSKY, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about that first, the possible diseases and what people can get sick from.

First on the list would be food and water, right?

KOZARSKY: Absolutely. I think one of the major concerns is that there is poor sanitation in areas where there was probably poor infrastructure to begin with. And then with damage to sewers and pipelines, there is unclean water and inavailability, unavailability of clean food.

So that will lead to a variety of illnesses.

SANCHEZ: This one I have experience with firsthand. When I was covering the contra war many years ago, I contracted malaria because of the Anopheles mosquito, the female version, of course. And I imagine this could happen there, as well, because of all the running water, right? More mosquitoes means more mosquito bites, possibly malaria.

KOZARSKY: Absolutely. We have areas that are endemic as it is for illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever, which are transmitted by mosquitoes. And their chances, because of the stagnant water, which are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, that they, the area will widen where there is malaria and it will become much more intense.

SANCHEZ: There's also diseases associated with other animals other than mosquitoes.

From rodents, for example, right?

KOZARSKY: Absolutely. Illnesses such as plague can break out. Illnesses related to domestic animals such as rabies, as well, is a concern.

SANCHEZ: And there's -- one of the things that I think sometimes people overlook is just simple injuries, the scratches and abrasions that people have from being tossed about in the water, simple now, but can become aggravated.

KOZARSKY: Absolutely. Simple injuries can lead to dreadful infections with bacteria such as staph and wounds can lead to tetanus, particularly in areas where the underlying population may not be immunized against illnesses such as tetanus.

SANCHEZ: So all these things, as we talk about them, sound, you know, alarming, serious.

What do we need to do to make sure we avert at least the majority of them? People will always get sick, but what can we do immediately?

KOZARSKY: I'm not sure that we can avert the majority of these illnesses that may unfold over the next few weeks. I think the key element is the provision of shelter and clean food and water.

SANCHEZ: One other thing that we need to ask you about, because it certainly has been getting an awful lot of ink in recent days, and that is the removal of the bodies, of all these cadavers, as we've seen, unfortunately, as a result of this.

KOZARSKY: Yes.

SANCHEZ: It seems to be a priority.

Should it be? And why?

KOZARSKY: I'm not sure that it shouldn't be a priority. Certainly bodies can release bacteria and toxins. However, I think the message needs to be that the provision of safe food and water and shelter for those survivors is absolutely key. And then the management of the dead.

SANCHEZ: In other words, it's important but not as important as making sure that those who survived have the essentials they need?

KOZARSKY: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: We thank you so much, Doctor Phyllis Kozarsky of Emory University, for sharing your insight and knowledge with us.

KOZARSKY: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Well, those who have survived the devastation in Southeast Asia now relate stories both tragic and inspiring. One family had prepared for the worst, but now they're telling the story of relief that they felt on hearing of a loved one who is among the survivors.

CNN talked with Pat and Bert Van Strander, whose son Nick was able to make it out alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT VAN STRANDER: We start calling and trying to find out where we like register his name. I actually was looking to register his name in case his body was recovered. That was honestly my first thought. And I just wanted to recover his body and bring him home, because we had started to hear that the islands were losing, first it was 300 people. It jumped to 3,000. Now it's 5,000 to 7,000. It was just -- how do you hope your son will survive something like that? (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Nick Van Strander also managed to escape the World Trade Center back on 9/11 -- Heidi.

COLLINS: The tsunami disaster happened half a world away, but could the same thing happen here? One expert sounds the alarm about a potential disaster. So why isn't anyone listening?

Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Could it happen here? An unavoidable question for anyone who's seen the shocking images of death and devastation coming out of Southeast Asia.

As CNN's Alina Cho found out, it's a concern that may have special meaning for people in New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 125th Street, heart of Harlem, home to the Apollo Theater, office of former President Clinton and a fault line, seismologists say, is one to watch.

(on camera): To the people who say, listen, this is not going to happen here, you say what?

LEONARDO SEEBER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEISMOLOGIST: I say this is wrong. It is sooner or later going to happen.

CHO: You believe that?

SEEBER: The issue is how probable is it and how big it's going to be.

CHO (voice-over): Leonardo Seeber, senior seismologist at Columbia University, says as recently as a month ago, there were small tremors near the 125th Street fault. Seeber says these events warrant more study.

SEEBER: Is Manhattan receiving, or Manhattan and New York City receiving appropriate or a balanced attention, scientific attention, relative to other places around the world such as California?

CHO (on camera): And what's the answer to that question?

SEEBER: And the answer to that is no, because as I said before, there is risk, there's considerable risk in Manhattan.

CHRIS SNEE, ENGINEERING GEOLOGIST: Very low risk.

CHO (voice-over): Geologist Chris Snee likens the 125th Street fault to scar tissue, a relative ancient seismic activity that is now dormant. SNEE: You need several ingredients for a major earthquake. It's not enough to say that there is a fault.

CHO: Yet residents in this Harlem neighborhood who are closely watching the devastation in Asia wonder if something similar could happen here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're surrounded around water and anything could happen.

CHO: Movie makers have fantasized about such an event and there are theories. Some argue if the volcano in the Canary Islands near Africa suddenly erupted and collapsed into the Atlantic, it could trigger a tsunami that could reach the East Coast. Seismologists like Seeber say the risk is minimal but, like the potential for earthquakes in the area, should not be ignored.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is siding with those who say the risk of an earthquake or tsunami hitting the Big Apple is minimal. The mayor's missing to New Yorkers -- "We are relatively safe."

SANCHEZ: This is the opportunity for you to involve yourselves in our newscast.

And Toure' is here with the Question of the Day to do just that.

And Toure' asks...

TOURE', CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: I want to know what you think we should do next year as the year draws to a close. There's an apocalyptic feel in the air because there are so many serious problems in the world. Iraq remains chaotic and moving unsteadily toward elections, shepherded by soldiers who lack sufficient armor. Terrorism remains a worldwide problem. Osama bin Laden continues to taunt us through the media. And our homeland security systems remain porous.

The question is, what should America's new year's resolution be in 2005?

Rich Young in Rochester, New York: "What Americans need to resolve for 2005 is to quit whining with every decision they disagree with and calling it a mistake."

Interesting.

Emer has a much shorter answer. "The answer is simple," he says, "America should listen."

Jason from Hartsdale, New York says: "What I think should be the focus is the 48 percent of voting Americans who did not vote for the president. Continue to organize and mobilize. We're a huge group. We need to continue to work and grow and we will win eventually."

And Jordana from Ontario says: "The U.S. should allow generic, less expensive medications to be purchased from Canada by U.S. citizens."

I wonder what's the personal gain for the average Canadian there.

COLLINS: I keep waiting, though, for somebody to write in and say we should lose weight, you know, because it's always about losing weight, right?

TOURE': Oh, we got one like that in the next block.

COLLINS: OK.

TOURE': Don't you worry.

SANCHEZ: All forthcoming, huh, Toure'?

TOURE': Um-hmm.

COLLINS: Thanks, Toure'.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been committed and relief workers are available. But how do you get the aid to the needy when there are no roads to get it there? We'll ask the U.N.'s relief coordinator here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING, everybody.

Just about half past the hour now.

I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad today.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez sitting in for Bill Hemmer on this day.

And here is what we now know on the tsunami disaster that we at CNN have been diligently covering for you. The number of dead has dramatically increased now, to 115,000. That's 115,000 people; almost 80,000 in Indonesia alone. That is where we've seen the big jump in the last 24 hours. The Indonesian island of Sumatra, closest to the epicenter of Sunday's earthquake, has been widely devastated.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

SURVIVOR: Saly Huyton

2005-08-14T08:39:00.000+08:00

SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI
Posted By Saly Huyton(14/08/2005 23:30:00)

Originally posted at http://www.tsunamistories.net and reposted again by Rick Von Feldt at www.phukettsunami.blogspot.com

Saly's words:

Me and my boyfriend Paul flew to Bangkok with 2 of our friends Matt and Haidee to spend Christmas with 2 other friends, Ralph and Dawn who are teachers in Thailand. We spent a few days in Bangkok before making our way to Phi Phi. We were all so excited. We hadn't all been together for a long time and the fact that we were all together in Thailand was amazing.

When we arrived in Phi Phi, we were all amazed how beautiful it was. We went to check in at our hotel (the Phi Phi Cabana) and couldn't believe our luck. We already had superior rooms but they had over booked so we were upgraded again. We wer on the 3rd floor, Matt and Haids on the 2nd floor and Ralph and Dawn on the 4th floor. When we all went to our rooms we couldn't believe our eyes. The rooms were amazing but the views were unbelievable.

The next few days were the best holiday I had ever had. We spent alot of the time relaxing by the pool, amazed by the beautiful views of the bay. It was paradise!

On Boxing Day morning, I think it was about 8ish, we were awoken by an earthquake. We weren't too sure what it was at first as we had had a few drinks the night before and thought we may stil have been drunk. Paul got up and saw that the lamp in the corner was shaking all over the place. I don't know how long it lasted but as we were awake now we thought we would get up. We were always in bed when breakfast was being served so we thought we'd give it a try.

When we arrived at the breakfast hall, Matt and Haids were there. Ralph and Dawn went for breakfast every morning but for some reason they decided to have a sleep in this morning. The rest of us sat round talking about the earthquake, not realising the other effects it has. When we had finished, I wanted to go to the chemist and get some cream for my jellyfish stings, so me and Paul went back to our room to get money. Haids also went back to her room to get changed and to chill for a bit. Matt said that he would go straight to the pool and get 6 sun beds for us all.

On our way to the chemist we decided to go via the pool to see Matt. When we got there he was on a sunbed with his headphones on listening to music with his back to the sea. Our pool was right on the beach,about 3ft up. Paul started talking to Matt as I stood looking out at the bay. Then I noticed this big wall of what looked like white water but was a dirty dark gray colour stretching from one side of the ba to the other. I shouted to the boys to come and have a look, Matt was getting a bit p***ed off because we kept disturbing him.

We all stood at the side of the pool watching it in amazement.Paul said " it's a tsunami" but it didn't look threatening at all, it was just wierd. There was a wooden longboat and a speedboat which started to get pushed by this water towards each other, it was only then that we thought "oh my god, the people on those boats could die if they collide". Whilst we were watching that, we didn't realise that the water in front of us was rapidly rising. The wall of water that was coming in, was pushing the water that was in the bay up.

Paul and Matt jumped down to the beech to help a Scandinavian couple. Paul managed to push the guy to one side so the boat missed him. Matt jumped back up and shouted to me to run but I couldn't leave Paul. Matt ran but as I stood there shouting for paul to hurry, the water knocked all the sun laungers into my legs and I landed on my back. Thats when the panick really kicked in. Paul had hold of the woman who was in the water but was stuck in a flower bed. He screamed at "RUN,RUN SALLY", so I did.

It was hard to run when the water was just below the knee, full of rubish and sunbeds, I was wearing flip flops and everyone was hysterical. I couldn't run straight towards the hotel because the pool was in the way, which had filled up with black water, so I had to run round. I thought that if I could get to the concrete stair case next to the gym, I would be OK. The stairs were concealed by a concrete wall so if the water hit it it wouldn't go back on itself. I also thought that if I could get into a room and close the door, I would also be alright, not realising how powerful it was. I got pushed sideways into the gym which was glass fronted and faced the sea. There was nothing between the gym and the sea. As soon as I was in the gym, I slipped on the floor and landed on my bum with my back to the glass. The next thing I remember was looking up behind me and all the glass surrounding me exploded. It was like something off a movie.

Within a second, the whole gym was filled to the ceiling with black water. There was nowhere for the water to go, no window or door at the other side for it to dispurse so it just kept coming and coming. It was like being in a washing machine with all sorts of gym equipment, wooden sunlaungers, trees, glass, boats everything. I could feel myself geting banged from every angle but I couldn't feel any pain. I was more bothered about holding my breath. I don't know how long I was under the water but it felt like a lifetime.

I was exhausted. I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I started to think about Paul and my mum and dad and how upset they would be if I died, but I couldn't hold on anymore. I remembered something that I had seen on TV about drowning, that it was very relaxing and peaceful. I then thought this is it, I'm going to die, my time is up. I relaxed, went limp and started to breathe in the water. It was very easy to do (didn't taste nice though). It may sound corny but it was really peaceful, like in a euphoric state. I remember seeing a bright light underneath me and brief flashes of my life, cheesey I know but true.

I must have then either been knocked out or I passed out. The next thing I remember is waking up in a basement full of rubish and bodies. I wasn't on the floor because I could see water and bodies under me. I was coughing up lots of water and sick. I couldn't breathe very well, very short sharp breaths and I had gym equipment and weight benches on top of my legs, I kept trying to wriggle free but I couldn't move an inch. I tried to shout for help but I didn't have the energy. I could feel that there was something big sticking about 1 foot out of my side, I think it was a piece of glass but I knew it was hindering my movement.

I lay there for about a minute wondering if I was the only person alive and would anyone find me down here. Then I looked up to my left and saw a doorway with half a staircase, I had to get up there if I wanted to get out. Then I heard water and looked up, more water rushed passed the door and the water underneath me started to rise. I thought F this, I'm not going through all that again, so I fulled the piece of glass out of my stomach, and just went crazy wriggling my legs until eventually I got free. I scrambled over all the rubble and managed to pull myself up onto the staircase and walked out of the door. It was so bright and sunny but deadly silent. I was in a big hall, stood on a stage, all 3 double doors had been blasted off and all the chairs and tables where stacked up on one side of the room.

I stood there for a second then looked down, I was stood in a big pool of blood which I imagined was mine so I thought I'd best lye down. As I lay there I gathered all my energy and managed to shout for help. Then I heard another woman outside shouting, which was a great relief. I wasn't the only person alive. Then I saw a man stood in the doorway with a lifejacket on, it was Luke Simmonds.I am the British girl called Sally, the first person he found. He put me on a door and a few of them carried me to safety. He asked me how I was and st that stage I thought I had punctured a lung and broken my ankle. Little did I know that I had a hole in my stomach that you could fit 2 big fists in, my foot was hanging off and from my waiste down to the back of my knee looked like a shark had eaten it. I had holes a few inches long all over my body and had lost a lot of blood.

Luke asked if I was with anyone and I said yes, my boyfriend Paul. I know that he is alive and ok and would be looking for me. Luke covered me with sheets to keep the flies off and I remember him pouring alchol into my stomach which hurt like hell! Luke held my hand and looked after me until Paul found me, which was a couple of hours later. He was very positive, and caring. Words can't describe what he did for myself and a lot of other people that day. I owe him my life!

To see Pauls face was unbelievable, I felt like I had a smile from ear to ear but I was told that I didn't and that I was fighting for breath. I felt happy inside, not thinking for one minute that I may stil die so Luke made sure that I was on the first boat off the island. The others were all ok, they watched the waves come in from their rooms so didn't get hurt. They spent the night in the mountains, but thats another story.

When we arrived at Phuket harbour, we were the first boat off the islands to land, so there were lots of people waiting for us. I was the first person to be taken off the boat but the medics kept grabbing my foot and the pain go so bad I went to pass out. Then a little old Thai lady ran out of the croud and put smelling salts under my nose until I came too. I was taken to a hospital in phuket and operated on. I thought the nightmare was over but I came to whilst they were still operating on my ankle, the pain was unbearable, but they had to continue.

The next day Ralph showed up at the hospital with a Thai lady he knew. This was very emotional for me but more so Paul. Paul had been through an awful lot and then to have to look after me on his own knowing that I was in alot of pain, was terrible for him. So to see Ralph was a big relief. The woman who came with Ralph arranged for an ambulance to drive from Bangkok for 12 hours to pick me up and drive me back to Bumrungrad hospital. That same night a couple from Jersey where we live, also ood friends of my aunty and uncle, turned up at the hospital. They had been staying in Phuket at the time. That was also amazing to see friendly faces.

Whilst in recovering in Bangkok, I then got pnumonia so I spent about 3-4 weeks there before I could fly home.

There aren't words to describe how greatful I am for everything everyone did for me. Paul was so strong, he kept me going through the whole experience, I couldn't have done it without him. Ralph, Dawn, Matt and Haids kept my spirits high every day that I was in hospital. Luke saved my life. All the Thai people who were so selfless. I could never thank them all enough!

A BIG THANKYOU to all the people who helped me that day and with my recovery!!!

Sally XX

SURVIVOR: Fiona and Simon

2005-08-02T08:45:00.000+08:00

THE STORY OF FIONA AND SIMON
Posted By Fiona(02/08/2005 00:23:00)
Ao Nang, Krabi

Fiona posted this story on http://www.tsunamistories.net and it has been republished on www.phukettsunami.blogspot.com by Rick Von Feldt

Fiona's words:

I have only just found this website, and have been moved by everybody’s stories. I feel compelled to tell mine and Simon’s. I was working at the Bangkok office of my (London) firm at the time the Tsunami struck, and had been there since September 2004. My boyfriend, Simon, came over to see me on 14th December for a well deserved holiday, but because I was working long hours at the time, I didn’t really get to spend any time with him until 23rd December, the day we flew to Krabi for our Christmas holiday.

I never normally plan holidays, but this time, because I had been looking forward to seeing Simon so much, I had it all planned to the tee. We were staying in the Queens Bay Pavillion Hotel in Ao Nang, and I had been looking through the guide books for months working out what we could do while we were there. For the first few days of the holiday Si and I just sat by the hotel pool chilling out. On Christmas Eve the hotel had a special Christmas dinner do thing, and we both got quite drunk, waking up on Christmas day with quite bad hangovers. That evening I remember we sat on our balcony, which had a lovely view of the sea, and watched the sun set.

Si took loads of pictures on his new digital camera, and we both got quite excited about how nice they were going to look when we got home and developed them. Anyway, due to the hangovers, we decided to get an early night that night, and booked a trip sea kayaking around a lagoon in Ko Hong, an island about an hour away from Ao Nang, for boxing day morning. I will never forget waking up that morning. It was the first morning of the holiday where I actually felt like I was relaxing and winding down. It was a lovely day, and the first thing I did was to walk over to the balcony and have a quiet, solitary cigarette, watching the world wake up. Si and I were picked up by our tour company at 9am. They drove us in a minibus to Hat Nopparat Thara (the bay nearest to Ao Nang), where we got onto a longtail boat for our trip to Ko Hong. Apart from Simon and myself, there were two Thai tour guides, the Thai boat owner, a French man, a middle aged Thai woman, and a young Thai couple on the boat.

The scenery was beautiful, but I remember feeling quite unsafe as the water seemed to be quite choppy. At one point, after about 45 minutes, we stopped off to fish for our lunch and the Thai boat owner shouted at the blokes on the boat to stop leaning over the side quite so much, because the boat was tipping quite precariously. It was in fact so choppy that the Thai lady on the boat had to lie down on the bottom to stop herself from being sea sick. At this point the tour guide decided that we had had enough of the fishing and that we should press on with the rest of the sail to Ko Hong. I know it won’t change anything, but I wish we had carried on with the fishing.

We got the Ko Hong about 15 minutes later, sometime after 10am I presume (I hadn’t looked at my watch throughout the journey and so don’t know exactly what time it was). Ko Hong has a double bay. The first part of the bay (the part where we parked the boat) consists of a narrow beach leading to sheer cliffs. In between the two bays is a limestone karst about 30 feet tall, and when you walk around the karst you reach the second bay which is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life – your classic white beach, completely clear water, with trees lining it. Anyway, we all got out of our boat and started walking towards to second bay, which would apparently have led us to the lagoon and our canoes. Simon was lagging behind a bit and so I slowed down to walk with him. At this point we were just about up to the beach of the second bay, and everybody else was walking through the little forest towards the canoes. There were 120 people on the island that day. I remember looking out into the sea and seeing a line of water coming towards us, obviously a big wave.

Then all the Thai people started running. At this point I didn’t feel any urgency at all – it was almost like a dream. Somebody – I think it must have been Si, shouted at me “RUN” and so I started running. There was still absolutely no urgency at all about me, and I remember checking my handbag to make sure that it was firmly attached to me in case anything (I didn’t know what) happened. After about 5 paces my right flip flop fell off, and I stopped to put it back on.

Then the wave hit me. I still wasn’t particularly scared at this point as all I was thinking was “It’s just water, and I can swim – I will be fine”. Immediately I got caught in its force and found myself tumbling along the ground completely out of control. It was at that point that I realised that I could die. The next thing I remember is looking up at the sky through the water and seeing some tangled mangrove roots and thinking that I had to try to hoist myself up through the trees in order to breathe.

That was where I stayed. I think I might have lost consciousness for a bit at that point, because it seemed that almost immediately to me everything then went eerily quiet and it I was the only person on the whole island. I tried to pull myself up from the mangrove trees, and realised quickly that I was completely trapped and couldn’t go anywhere.

At that point I started screaming for help. I then saw a lady coming up to me and so asked her to help. She started pulling me out, but has since told me that as she couldn’t see anything wrong with me, she just told me that I had to try to do it myself as she had lost her 18 month old baby and was looking for her. Her baby died on that island. Her loss must have been unbearable. She did manage to pull me out of the trees enough for me to realise that my right leg must have been badly broken as my foot was at an angle that wouldn’t normally have been possible.

At that point I looked to my left and saw Simon about ten feet away. Apparently I shouted at him “baby, it’s me, I think my leg has fallen off.” He had blood running down his face, and his leg was also badly cut, but he was able to walk and so he started climbing as fast as he could across the mangrove trees to get to me. He was crying, and just kept saying to me that if that was a wave machine, like you get in amusement parks, it wasn’t a very funny joke, because people could have been badly hurt in it. With the help of a Norwegian man who had then appeared, Simon managed to pull me out of the mangrove trees so that I was lying on top of them. That was when we realised that my leg was in a much worse state then we had originally thought. The tibia was snapped completely, like a twig, and all the skin on my lower leg seemed to have sloughed away. I could also see red stinging ants climbing around in my muscle and whatever else was left of my leg, and my thigh was starting to swell up. I couldn’t feel any pain at all at first, and that was strange, but after a few minutes the pain started up and got worse and worse.

All I could think was that I needed to find a boat to take me back to the shore and to the hospital – and I kept saying it to everyone I could find. So Simon, an English woman called Sarah, and the Norwegian man started to pick me up and carry me back towards the beach to look for a boat. Obviously, none was there. At that point the water rose again, and we all realised that there was a big danger of another wave. That was when I realised that, although my handbag had managed to stay on me because I had made sure that it was secure before the wave hit, my bikini pants had been ripped off and I was naked below the waist.

Although it sounds stupid, that was all I was worried about at that point and kept telling everyone that I was naked and really embarrassed – it is funny that anyone could be worried about something as trivial as that at a time like that and I have thought about it a lot subsequently. There was a little concrete hut a few feet into the forest, and they decided to carry me there instead of finding a boat. At that point the pain was really beginning. The bottom of my leg was hanging onto the rest of it by a small piece of skin at the back, and every time they tried to carry me it would flop down and I would scream with pain. They eventually found a towel that they could use as a sling and that was how they ended up carrying me. We got to the hut, and it was completely packed with very badly injured people.

The only place to lie me down was in the doorway. Most people that were able bodied were worried about a second wave and had started making their way to higher ground. I remember there was a woman there who was lying on a makeshift bed. Her husband was kneeling over her side and was shouting at everyone asking them if they know how to do mouth to mouth. Simon went over to try to help, but she was dead. I was losing a lot of blood and was gradually starting to feel more and more out of it. At some point, our tour guide came to the hut, and recognising us, and taking one look at me, told us that he would go to find us a boat (I was still demanding a boat to the mainland). I don’t know how much longer we waited in the hut, but out tour guide was as good as his word. He came back with a yellow canoe (Simon is convinced it was red, but I vividly remember it as yellow – we have argued about it a lot since – stupid again I know). They lifted me into the canoe and started carrying me towards the beach again. This is the part that I know Simon will never ever get over.

When the tour guide got back to the hut he pulled Simon aside and told him that he had found a boat for me but that Si couldn’t tell anybody else because if he did there would be a mass fight to get on the boat and it may capsize. A man whose wife was dying then pulled Simon aside and asked him if we had found a boat. He said no. We later found out that I was the only survivor from that hut. 20 people died on the island that day. The man who had found the canoe slid me over the beach and then jumped into the canoe, paddling it himself. There was no room for Si in the canoe and so he held onto the back of it and started swimming. I have no idea how far away from the shore the boat was but it must have been quite a long way out due to the fear of another wave. Every time the Thai man who was paddling me looked at my leg he threw up into the sea. All three of us were petrified there was going to be another wave. We eventually got to the speed boat, and it went back to the mainland as quickly as possible.

When we got back there I was almost unconscious. Luckily as we were so early there was an ambulance waiting and it took me straight to Krabi hospital. I lost Si when we got to the shore, but apparently the minute he saw me being taken into the ambulance, he collapsed. His leg was much more badly injured than he had originally thought, and he spent the next month in hospital himself. I have very little memory of the next 2 days apart from being hot, being in pain, hearing people screaming and moaning, asking for water and painkillers, and being too scared to look at my leg.

On Monday evening I remember turning my head and being just really really surprised to see my Dad. He had been in Vietnam at the time the Tsunami hit, and when he couldn’t get through to me on my mobile had realised what had happened. He had spent 3 hours looking for me in the hospital, and just before he found me was told where the morgue was.

The next miracle appeared in the form of two of my colleagues from the Bangkok office of my firm, who had also realised what had happened, together with Simon’s parents who were in Chiang Mai on holiday when the Tsunami happened. Without the Thai tour guide, Simon, my work colleagues, or our parents I don’t think I would have been here today. They were amazing and organised for me to be taken straight from Krabi hospital to a private hospital in Hat Yai, and from there to Bangkok where I had my leg amputated on 30 December. It apparently was so badly infected that I would have been dead in days if I had stayed in Krabi. I stayed in hospital in Bangkok until 13th January, and was then in hospital in London until mid February.

I went back to work at the end of February, and finally got a prosthetic leg at the beginning of June. Things are slowly getting back to normal, but will never be the same again. I would like to say that my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected by the Tsunami and everybody who has lost somebody in it.

I am so so so desperately sorry for your losses.

SURVIVOR: Pat Benton

2005-07-07T08:55:00.000+08:00

THREE DAYS OF HELL IN KHAO LAK
Posted By Pat Benton
(27/07/2005 13:44:00)

Originally posted by Pat Benton at http://www.tsunamistories.net and reposted by Rick Von Feldt at www.phukettsunami.blogspot.com

The words of Pat Benton:

I have only just found this website and have been reading everyone’s stories. My family’s experiences were not quite as terrible, but to us at the time it was a complete nightmare from which we thought we would never awake.

My husband & I had been in Bangkok for a busy three days and then we arrived in Khao Lak (Lah Own Resort) on Thurs 23 December for 17 nights, to spend Christmas & New Year with our 3 children (Anthony 31, Debbie 29, David 21), all of whom were Dive Masters working with Phuket Divers based in Khao Lak.

Debbie & her instructor boyfriend left KL on Christmas Day evening to go on a 4-day live-aboard boat dive trip to the Similans. My husband & I had planned to meet our two sons on the beach the next morning to relax (as we had been really busy until then, as we had only had an hour or so on the beach on Christmas Eve).

Next morning - Boxing Day - we had finished breakfast in the restaurant on the beach and gone back to our 2-storey "bungalow" (we were on the top floor) to get our beach things. My husband suddenly changed his mind and said he’d walk into KL to see about a hire car and he’d meet me on the beach. However, very surprisingly for me as I am a bit of a sun worshipper, I said I would go with him, so we set off at 10.10 am, reaching our sons’ accommodation (the dive master hut in KL) at 10.24. We woke David, who he said he’d have some breakfast and then join us at the car hire place about 50 yards down the road.

We walked along the road about 50 yards when suddenly people started running around excitedly, then cars started hooting & motor bikes rushing about, then screaming started. We obviously knew something was wrong & tried to convey the question. Someone shouted landslide, landslide, so we thought there'd been an accident up the road or something. But everyone was in such a panic we rushed back to the dive master hut & David was outside. We woke Anthony & his girlfriend, Lei, & we all walked up the road a bit. Suddenly, injured people started coming up from the beach – the first person we saw was a man with all the skin gone from his front. Then obviously the word got about that there'd been a giant wave.

We started trying to help people who were all in various states of undress, shock, etc. Blood everywhere, gashes in legs, heads & so on. One woman's bikini top was half off so I put it back on her. We fetched water & tried to clean up some wounds. I suddenly said oh my god, the Similan islands, Debbie’s out there. We all just stared at each other as the realisation hit that she was most likely dead. From then on, for the next 36 hours, there was this huge lump of frozen fear & dread in the pit of all our stomachs and it was difficult to function.

Then suddenly a huge panic set in as people yelled another wave coming - run, run, run up the mountain. You could taste the fear, it was awful. We grabbed a bottle of water, our 3 men picked up this German woman whose leg was badly broken at the knee and carried her while we all tried to run up this long wide track lined with tall rubber trees. Very difficult in over 90 deg of heat with a badly injured woman who kept screaming in pain. We finally reached the end of the track & left the woman with several other injured people. There were some vehicles there to take the injured people further on, as it would be impossible to carry the badly injured up this mountain.

We started up the mountain with many many other refugees - injured and uninjured, including one Swedish boy about 9 yrs old, whose calf was ripped open at the back as well as other injuries, but the leg was horrific. His parents were also missing. We climbed up & up, along narrow twisty, slippery track up through a rubber tree plantation, absolutely DRIPPING pouring in perspiration until we thought we might be safe. We'd reached a short of ledge. A Dutch couple who had been on the previous diving trip with Anthony were with us. They'd been asleep in their bungalow in Countryside resort on the beach, theirs was at the back. He'd heard screaming, looked out the window in time to see a giant wall of water coming over the swim pool. He screamed RUN RUN and they just had time to grab the first item of clothing next to them cos they were naked. He had shorty swim trunks & she had vest & thong, neither had shoes.

Anyway, we all sat for about 3 hours, just staring & telling each other what had happened to us. Just a couple of yards away was a group of Swedes & all around us were groups of other people. We were the only Brits. Behind us there was a German woman who was in complete shock as her husband was missing, her daughter was with her. Then a Swedish tour rep came up to us all & told us there was a camp set up across the way which was safe & suggested we all came but that we'd have to go down to the road & walk for 10 mins before getting to it. We all decided to stay where we were, as we were all frightened of more waves coming, but meanwhile everyone put their names & nationalities down on a piece of paper he'd brought.

Our older son decided (insisted) on going back to their place to fetch water, etc. One anxious hour later he came back with a rucksack full of clothes, a kit bag full of bottled water & a huge jerry can full of water. We then decided to move to a different place so we could all sleep later, as we were going to spend the night. This we did, climbing higher and higher, when a Thai man suddenly appeared & told us to follow him 500m to his house where we could all stay. However, it wasn’t 500m, more like 5km - up more & more steep mountain into the jungle proper. We were all utterly exhausted, sick, frightened, scared of snakes and surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes & we had no protection. We eventually reached a clearing with his house on stilts; groups of people around fires the Thaïs had built – I would guess there to have been about 60-80 people altogether. A man appeared later with a bag full of takeaway packs of noodles he'd gone down to fetch especially so each group got one pack so we had a mouthful each. Otherwise we had no food for 36 hours.

There then passed the most uncomfortable, horrific night ever. When it got dark, the noise from insects (cicadas?) was deafening, the fires smoked incessantly but we had to keep them going to try to keep mosquitoes away & snakes! The ground was obviously hard, we'd tried to line it with banana palm leaves but I don’t recommend it, as each one had a thick very hard stem up the middle & we spent all night trying to shift them, along with funny nut things that somehow got under us. My husband & I had a sleeping bag each, which was ghastly, because they were nylon so in that heat we stifled but we at least had protection against mosquitoes, etc, for our bodies. But things did crawl in & I had bites next morning. A few times in the night we got out of the sleeping bags to go to the edge of the clearing for a pee, taking the small torch we were all sharing and shining it widely over the ground as we walked, terrified of snakes. Getting back to the sleeping bags then meant opening them right out & shining the torch on to them to check no snake had slithered in.

Anthony meanwhile dished out a few clothes to people who had nothing. The Dutch girl with us wore a t-shirt like shorts to cover her thong, poor girl. People just sat around in their little groups, talking very quietly to each other.

Believe it or not, at about 3 am a film crew turned up with camcorder, spotlight etc, & filmed us. I went up & asked if they were some sort of news team They were, & they told us there'd been a huge earthquake in Sumatra, which caused the tsunami & that after shocks were expected, more waves, etc, etc, Some German man shouted at them to turn the light off. I asked if they knew anything about the Similans and was told that island no eight had been flattened by the tsunami but that no other news had come in and they had no news of the boats.

At just before sunrise we prepared to leave. One man could hardly walk so I gave him a distalgesic in the hope that it would dull his pain a bit to help him down the mountain. Everyone trouped down the mountain very slowly, it was worse in a way going down because we were all pretty weak & tired from lack of sleep & so much stress. It took about an hour to get down by which time my legs wd hardly work they were trembling so much. We gathered at the bottom & then made our way back to the dive master hut & then to a meeting point at the Sea Dragon (one of the other dive operator outfits in Khao Lak).

Chris & Anthony then went to see what had happened to our resort – they were given a lift on a Sea Dragon motor bike (all 3 on the bike!). They were gone for some time and then came back with, incredibly, two of our suitcases and most of our belongings!!!! However, the reception office was no longer there so our passports & flight tickets & travellers cheques were gone in the waves. Chris & Anthony found that the resort had been completely flattened apart from the second-storey of the 4 bungalows right at the back - one of which was ours. The pillars were still standing but the downstairs bungalows had been completely trashed. There were bodies on the track we had walked up the previous day and there were bodies everywhere. We put all our stuff in the dive master hut & went back to be with others.

They both went back (walked this time) a second time to retrieve odds & ends from our bungalow. Incredibly, the only things missing were Chris's timberland shoes, his swim trunks, a pair of trousers and several other, unimportant, things. There were several books that had been soaked beyond retrieval. The water had obviously entered our bungalow through the window but had not done much damage to it. All the other upstairs bungalow were, however, very badly damaged. Chris & Anthony helped 2 Swedish chaps look for a member of their party who was missing. they had been on the beach at the time of the wave & had managed to run away having realised the situation quickly enough (3 families with one father missing). They helped gather recognisable belongings of the other Swedish people in the resort.

One couple had been on the beach when the sea had suddenly been sucked out about 2 kms. Everyone stared, what a phenomenon, people walked out to pick up shells, took photos, etc. One couple, the husband went out to take pics & she didn't like it, felt something wrong so told him to come back but he didn't. She walked away & then the wave came so she escaped & he died. There were so many many stores from people how they escaped.

Anyway, while they were still there at the bungalow, David & I were waiting anxiously when suddenly there were sirens of police cars & shouting on megaphone, RUN RUN RUN, another wave is coming (a helicopter was overhead as well, so everyone assumed they could see the wave). There was nothing for it but for us to run with everyone else in a flat panic, knowing Chris and Anthony were down there and that this time there was nothing between our bungalow and the beach to stop the water. A truck stopped & dragged us into the back & we were driven very fast up a different track towards the safe place on the hill the Swede rep had told us about. After several minutes, David then insisted on borrowing a mountain bike to just ride to the end of the track to see if he could spot the others. After an appallingly fear-filled half hour, Chris & Anthony appeared, with David and the bike in the back of another truck. Thank God. We also found Kirsty, Debbie’s best friend who was also living in Khao Lak and working as a teacher. She'd been asleep in her house & was woken by her boyfriend who'd felt something was wrong & came back just in time. She had spent the night up the mountain as well, dressed in her silk pyjamas, which she was till wearing & was very hot. Chris gave her a t-shirt. She was in an almost hysterical state, not knowing whether any of us were alive. Her Thai boyfriend lost 14 members of his family in the tsunami.

Among all the other emotions, there was this overriding FEAR of Debbie being dead. On Christmas day, just before they’d left on the boat trip, I’d taken a couple of pics of her in a short white skirt & red top, with a santa hat on, cos she wanted to be Christmassy for the punters on the boat, and all I could see was Debbie in this outfit posing on a motorbike. David however, all along was convinced she was still alive because he tends to get a sick feeling or something when anything is wrong with any of his family (he has done so a few times before). But this of course was not really of any help to me as I was convinced she was dead, despite various so-called experts telling us that the safest place was at sea. In addition, there was this awful sick feeling of not being able to tell anyone at home that we were ok, knowing how they would be feeling as we knew that by now the news would be worldwide. I could imagine how our families would be feeling, as I knew how we felt.

After a few hours they started evacuating everyone to a wat (temple) between KL and Phuket (about 10 kms away from us). We however, could not possibly leave without knowing what had happened to Debbie. The Dutch couple (Jos & Anne Marie) went as well, as they had literally nothing except what they stood up in and some unmatching sandals they’d found for their feet. We didn’t have much cash on us but we gave them a Thai banknote, worth about £14, and they both cried. There were no communications whatsoever, the mobile signals had all gone as had the electricity. In fact, now I come to think of it, that was the very first inkling I had of something very serious because, before we knew of the wave, but when people were yelling, I checked our mobiles (one Thai & a UK one) and no signal on either. So something serious had obviously taken the signal.

At some point during Monday, we had been at the dive master hut when we realised that the family next door was in a terrible state of grief. Anthony and David went to find out what had happened and one of their two little boys (they had a two year old and a four year old – such beautiful children, with huge dark eyes & long lashes) had been on the beach with a friend of the family and they had disappeared. Anthony and David went down to the beach with the father to try to find them. They never did find the four year old but found the woman he’d been with – dead, mangled in a tree. They saw such horrific sights and were very quiet for a long time after that. David had taken several lovely photographs of the two little boys on Christmas Day, each with a red santa hat on trimmed with white fur. (David later sent these photos to the family).

We spent most of the rest of the day at the Sea Dragon, just waiting for news. There was a big board with lists of people who were known to be alive, dead or missing. More people kept coming in, including Sea Dragon's dive boats. The people on those boats said that 40-50 boats had sheltered behind Similan island no 8 the night before. However, that didn't help us at all because the news team had told us that island 8 had been flattened by the wave.

There were one or two more wave alerts as we'd come to call them. The Thaïs just went into flat panic & ran so of course this infected us as well and we all ran with them. We had plenty of bottled water but not really any proper food. The Thaïs are such a friendly and wonderful people, they kept giving us water, but we all had loads, more than we could carry, also medicine, first-aid stuff, etc. & little bits of food, all cold fried rice, which was obviously at least 24 hrs old. I really love fried rice, but......

The day dragged by in a haze of fear, people just sat numbly staring (apart from the times we all ran from yet another police car megaphone shouting RUN RUN more waves). At around 6pm, we suddenly heard someone's mobile receiving a text message. We rushed up to him & sure enough he had a signal. We checked ours & we had a signal too. Before we could ring anyone, dozens of messages came flooding in, one after the other. We immediately rang various people. Tried to contact Debbie but no signal there. Dread returned full force. Several people rang home with our mobile. Everyone's signal then disappeared. It was dark then, we were still at Sea Dragon & suddenly got a message that someone had heard the two boats from Phuket Divers (Anthony, Debbie & David’s outfit) were returning & were safe, but no news on any individual.

In fact, we discovered later, Debbie & Jerry had left the dive boat & had come ashore in a naval boat, armed with blankets, torches, first aid equipment, compass, etc, etc, as by this time they'd been sent a text by someone saying that Khao Lak was completely devastated, hundreds dead (so they thought we all were) and came convinced they were going to have to trek thro the jungle to get there!! When they’d reached shore in the naval boat, they saw a body floating in the sea. The pier at (I think it was called Tap Lamu) had been completely destroyed.

They eventually reached us at about 8 o'clock that evening. You can imagine the emotion of that moment. In fact, all of our family back in the UK knew Debbie was safe before we did, thanks to my sister hassling the Foreign Office half the night and becoming Sherlock Holmes to get through to the boss of Phuket Divers, insisting on getting boat's phone no, but she was given jerry's mobile number, but we didn't know all this at the time.

We then heard their story. Debbie had been diving, had been down about 35 mins, when suddenly the current got very, very strong & she turned to her punters with one arm stretched out & grinned, Hey, look at me, I’m superman, as she was whizzed along. However, suddenly the coral disappeared under clouds of swirling masses of sand & they knew something was wrong. in fact, she was propelled fast up to the surface, which would have been very dangerous & resulted in the bends, if she hadn't just had a 4-day break from diving. Jerry managed to do a decompression stop. He's an instructor & is far more experienced than Debbie & managed to prevent himself from being pushed so fast up to the surface. Some of the people they had taken diving ended up round the other side of the island – luckily alive.

They were hauled up on to the boat by the captain who was in a flat panic. But they didn't know what had happened, just thought the sea was having a bit of a full-moon funny! They tried to watch a little TV in the captain’s cabin but couldn’t understand most of what was being said as it was obviously in Thai, but suddenly they saw on the ticker-tape at the bottom of the screen, the word tsunami, but still didn’t fully know the significance. It was hours before they knew and then spent hours thinking we must all be dead.

We spent that (Monday 27th) night in 4 bungalows at Debbie’s & Jerry’s place – Jai Bungalows, set back from the road on the opposite side from the beach side. Three of them had been left open by the owner (Jai) so anyone who needed them could use them!! There were by this time 8 of us, us 5, Jerry & Lei & a fellow instructor, a German girl called Petra. In the middle of the night, we had another panic as I suddenly heard water, we quickly put clothes on & rushed to door, could hear very heavy surf pounding, which is not usual for this coastline. However, common sense set in with Chris who said that if it was a tidal wave it would not be doing a surf pounding thing.

We got up as soon as it was light, packed & discovered that Debbie had been woken in the middle of the night by a phone call (got signal back) from someone to say run run run, another wave!!! but by then she’d had enough and they decided to stay put. If the wave came again, they wouldn’t be able to outrun it). We had a family conference & spent most of the morning trying to find transport to get us out of Khao Lak, which by now was becoming extremely smelly in the heat with all those bodies, which had not yet been removed. In fact, there were four bodies in the bus stop shelter just across the road; they'd been there for 48 hours. Also, no electricity, no food, & water would soon run out, including running water (which amazingly we still had because it was in storage tanks but would soon dry out because it's pumped up electrically).

After a worrying four hours or so we got out in two vehicles, a German’s truck which took all our loads of luggage (for all eight of us), water, etc, in the back with Anthony & David lying on top, using sarong as turbans to protect them from the sun. The rest of us squeezed into a minivan.

We passed through the next village - Bang Ngang, which was lower down than Khao Lak and completely & utterly trashed. A naval gunboat which was moored off shore to give protection to the Royal Thai princess who was staying locally had been washed 1.5 km inland!! In fact, her son died.

We passed a large articulated lorry full of dead bodies, it was total destruction everywhere. Anthony & David had to put the sarong over their mouths & noses.

After 4 hours we reached Surat Thani, a town on opposite coast, on the Gulf of Thailand opposite Ko Samui, & spent 2 nights in a hotel, opposite...... Tesco !! Another unreal occurrence in an already unreal nightmare. In our rooms, we switched on the TV and saw for the first time the extent (then) of the whole disaster, totally unbelievable – we were glued to the TV for hours.

While there, we sorted out new airline tickets for all of us, then left for Khanom, further south, where we stayed for six nights. New Year’s Eve was spent at that hotel with a big party of Swedes, who had been on Koh Lanta during the tsunami but had all managed to escape unscathed. We stayed up until midnight with them (we were the only ones staying in the hotel by then) and that was very emotional.

By this time, we were all safe and rested and fed, but trying to come to terms with what had happened and why, amidst all the death & destruction, against all odds & in a series of circumstances, all our family had remained intact. It was so totally unbelievable that Chris should have changed his mind at the last minute & also that I didn't go to the beach.

We and the children went to Bangkok for four nights. Chris and I had to get replacement passports, and then Chris and I flew home (as originally planned) on 10 January. That was one of the most difficult and heartbreaking things I have ever had to do – say goodbye to our three children, who were staying on in Thailand, after all we had been through.

The next few weeks were terrible. We both slept badly and when we did sleep it was full of nightmares. I remember the overriding feeling was of unreality – as thought I wasn’t there, as thought none of it had happened. We both went back to work after a day or so, thinking it would be best to keep busy. It was, but the drive to and from work was like a dream and usually I had tears pouring down my face most of the way. I went to the doctor eventually and was told what I already knew, that I was suffering from post-traumatic stress. I was given a document to read and that was when I discovered that this unreality feeling was a major part of post-traumatic stress.

Another major part of it was the feeling of guilt – guilt that we had all survived, guilt that we had not been injured, guilt that most of our luggage had not been lost (how on earth could our “bungalow” have been the only one still intact? How on earth had we not been on the beach, when that was what we’d planned so definitely the day before? How? Why?). Guilt that we hadn’t somehow done more to help people.

We have heard several times from the Dutch couple, Jos & Anne Marie. Things happened very quickly for them after they left us in Khao Lak on Monday 27th. They were on an aeroplane back to Holland by 3 am. Jos said he bought a pack of cigarettes with the money we gave them and the rest they gave to a tsunami appeal fund. They found it extremely hard when they got back, and didn’t go back to work for a few months.

We both felt (and still feel) so desperate for those who lost loved ones in the tsunami. We still can’t believe that Debbie was returned to us.

I still get very tearful at the slightest thing, still have bad dreams – although not every night – and still feel bereft that all our children aren’t with us, wrapped in cotton wool! Debbie is diving in Majorca with Jerry, David is in Vietnam doing a TEFL course and Anthony is in China, working. We will hopefully see one or more of them at Christmas.

I have since read so many accounts from other people, and have come to realise that we all have similar feelings, thoughts and nightmares. I keep stumbling across other websites and have only just found this one. It certainly helps a little to read of other people’s experiences.

I pray for all those who lost loved ones – particularly for those whose loved ones were never found. Our three children lost many friends.

SURVIVOR: Charley Marshall - Age 8

2005-06-21T08:59:00.000+08:00

CHARLEY MARSHALL's story
STORY AGED 8
Posted By Gary Marshall
(21/06/2005 19:40:00)

Originally posted at http://www.tsunamistories.net and reposted by Rick Von Feldt on www.phukettsunami.blogspot.com.

Charley's father writes: This was written by my son Charlie aged 8 after the Tsunami.We were staying in Bankok a few days afterwards when he decided to put pen to paper.I have copied it exactly how he wrote it at the time (please excuse the grammer!!)

``One day Jack and Charlie were watching TV and just that second Jack heard a big noise so Charlie looked out of the window and saw lots and lots of water rushing toward us.Quickly Jack and Charlie ran out of the room and are Dad was there a he told me and jack to go to the top floor.This all hapend on phi phi island and are hotel at the cabanna.

When me and Jack where at the top floor we did`ent know if my mum and my sister wher all right.the hole time i was on the top floor I was naked until some people gave me some shorts and some shoes and i was very thankfull.Then we had a walk to the next building because that was hiyer and thats where mum and gracie were.on the way me and Jack Both herd a noise coming from a bathroom in a smashed up room.are Dad told me a jack to go to next bulding so my dad was risking his life for a Japnese wormon stuck in a toilet my dad sor that the dor was jamend so mm dad kicked the door my dad could not do it by him self so shouted in a loud voce HELP!

one brave man came and helped back.Both of them manged to kick the door in and carry the Japnice wommen back and they saved her life. There were big cuts all over her and a big chunk out of her neck that was realy bad and her son that was ther was not that better.

The waves came a thu more times and then we heard that the Big Wave was coming so we had to clim over glass a wood to get to the nerest moutain i gav my sister my shoues and i was barfoot.We climed to the top and didnt go down till it was dark and then we herd that no more wter coming.

When i went down there one man closed to me who hada broken leg and his tow choped in half and the man farest a way from me had realy hurt his back.the one that hurt hisback was carryed first a the one thatwas left i sat wive and gave him some bread and water.We all left the mountain and went back to the smashed up hotel.my dad had his pasports a 1000£ in a box my dad tried to break the box but you needed the key that floted away and everybody money and parsports where in the box to.

We also herd that a boat wasgoing to come to the pier so we went to the new peir a that had floted out to sea so we went to the new peair but the boat did not come so we all went to a place on a roof and we tride to go to sleep.moscitos cept on biteing us so we went.As soon as i got to sleep we herd a noise and it was a rescu but we had to a longboat to get to it.

me mum Jack got on the boat but are dad didntget on ith us.the rescue boat had about 200 peopel on and no mor could get on.We made the trip and we stade in a rest place.we stade there for one night and we met a family there and they took us to a hotel wich they paid for us and gave us moneyuntill are dad come and we went to a hotel in Bankok an we are staying there for 5 nights.One of my dads best friend called lorence gave my dad 30000 bath and we are getting some more money soon``

Charlie Marshall aged 8

STORIES WANTED FOR TELEVISION SPECIAL

2005-06-18T12:13:00.000+08:00

It has been about 6 months since the Tsunami hit. Has much of the world moved on? Does it seem like an old news story to most?

I supposed everyone moves on. But it is sad that, on the ground, the devistation and memory continues for many.

We will be certain to see coverage of the TSUNAMI in December - as we get close to the one year anniversary.

Several groups have approached me asking for volunteers to continue to tell their stories - or to tell the story with a new angle. Are you one of them?

LARGE NORTH AMERICAN TELEVISION COMPANY IS LOOKING

I promised to help a North American television company with this post:

The kind of survivor stories we are looking for is - a wide cross section of people...so Americans, Canadians, Swedes and the local Sri Lankan and Thais. The plan is to get an idea of just what a global disaster the tsunami was.

Also,one of the biggest challenges we are facing is locating before and after video footage and photographs. The footage/pictures that already exists has been aired so many times that we feel the public has developed a kind of indifferent 'seen that before' kind of attitude.

So, two things - survivors with interesting and moving stories that have footage that can be used to reinforce their experiences visually and other footage of that time that has not been over exposed.

The idea of a blurb on your website is great. The blurb could say the following:

"Public broadcaster is working on a documentary on the survivors of the tsunami. Please let us share your stories. We are also looking for before and after footage of the areas devastated by the tsunami on an urgent basis. Thanks."

And so - if you have yet to tell your story - or have a different view that you think should be heard - let me know. We can post it online here - and also forward your ideas on the television station.

SURVIVOR: Naomi Bowman

2005-06-18T09:05:00.002+08:00

NAOMI'S STORY

Naomi Bowman was another survivor. Her story originally was posted on http://www.tsunamistories.net/. But Naomi has requested her story be withdrawn. In her original posting, Naomi started out by describing her day, "26th December was another beautiful sunny day and at about 10.20am I was on charlie beach on Koh PhiPhi island, reading a book with my headphones on when I looked round to see a few people running and shouting. Looking out to sea I saw in the distance about an inch high of dark brown water travelling towards the beach. I thought that the tide was coming in, although it wasn’t slowing down and was obviously the wrong colour."

"By the time I stood up with my bag the water was already past my feet. I started running but it was knee height now and so fast it knocked over a woman running ahead of me. Holding onto a palm tree to stop myself falling, I looked out into the waves, now thinking it must be some kind of tropical storm. I was really frightened, dropped everything and ran again. A few seconds later waves smashed into my back and took me under the water. For the first time the word tsunami came into my head."

She goes on to talk about what it felt like to be in a tsunami.

In March, 2005, the Oxford Mail online newspaper reported that Naomi was marrying her hospital attendant. The article said, "An Oxford university student is leaving behind ambitions of becoming a City banker to marry a Thai man who helped her cling to life after the Asian tsunami. Naomi Bowman, 21, was swept off the beach on the island of Koh Phi Phi, sustaining a large gash to her body, two broken ribs and extensive cuts to her head and thighs. She was operated on six times under general anaesthetic after the Boxing Day tragedy which claimed around 300,000 lives in countries around the Indian Ocean. She still struggles to walk. But her harrowing experiences in Thailand have not dissuaded her from returning - for love is pulling her back. Now Naomi, a maths undergraduate, has decided to scrap her high-flying career dreams and spend the rest of her life with 30-year-old Theep Janthamanee, a rock climbing teacher whom she had befriended before the disaster. After searching for Naomi for three days, Theep found her in a crowded hospital, she told the Mail on Sunday. "Because of a lack of medical staff, he fed me, dressed my wounds, helped me to walk and move again and even changed my bed pans," she said. "At night when I could not sleep he lay by my side and comforted me. "Now I want to spend the rest of my life with Theep. If it were not for him, I might not be here. He is so caring and compassionate, so wonderful and careful; I just fell in love with him."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-341187/Tsunami-survivor-wed-Thai-carer.html#ixzz0kYcdUboA