Guest visitor Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 On 26 December at around 9 AM local time, the Eurasian and Austrailian tectonic plates northwest of Sumatra ground past each other for a full seven minutes, releasing a vibration that registered 9.0 on the Richter scale, reportedly the fourth most powerful the earth has experienced since 1900. The consequent displacement released a surge of energy radiating otward from its source across thousands of kilometers of the Indian Ocean in an arc ranging from Thailand to the Maldives. Having gotten stuck in Hikkaduwa for much longer than I anticpiated, (got sick twice and had to get surf-ful each time I got better) I was up early to enjoy my daily breakfast on the beach and to watch the waves of the Indian break on the offshore reef, planning to catch an early morning train east along the coast and then catch a series of buses bringing me eventually to the hill country. Like each morning I had spent there, the serenity of the honest ocean roaring in the background while I read was the best imaginable start to a day in a life of total leisure. Getting back to my room, I packed up my stuff, took a few minutes to talk with the family about my route, and pay my week's board. Looking at the clock, it was just past nine thirty and the train was scheduled to arrive anywhere between nine fifty and ten thiry. I decided to walk the three kilometers into town since it was a cool morning and I had enough time. In a day of chance for everyone in south Asia, a random series of individual decisions would prove fortuitous or otherwise. In my case, I was lucky, my experience of the day comparatively benign, in the right place at the right time, but like everyone else, a different decision, the desire to get in a vehicle or leave five minutes early would've produced a different outcome. I've come to conclude that natural disasters seem to be a microcosm of life itself, and though socioeconomic factors help determine the outcome, its still a matter of chance. As I made my way down the street, I sensed an agitation of a small crowd gathered in the downstairs lobby of a nearby hotel. I decided to stop, thinking that somebody had just had just had a heart attack or something and stood around curious to know what was going on. I vaguely recall being disuaded from that inital assessment by the looks of the faces on the by-standers. They were moving forward and back and their faces were mixed between horror and humor, astonishment and disbelief. As I glanced around at each of them, it happened, and within a moment, they were out and running. Paralyzed in confusion, I stood for a moment as the water came rushing out behind them, meanwhile thinking that a water pipe must have burst. Looking up the street, and seeing a scene of chaos that I won't forget, it became clear that the entire town was running away. Fortuitously, I was across the street from a sturdy two story building; I turned, ran up the stairway, and dumping my pack in a corner, ran to the open balcony- my smirk of disbelief turned suddenly to horror as I realized that the ocean was surging. The water had risen so quickly that people were already up to their waists in it, cars and rickshaws were floating into buildings, hotel furniture, bricks tumbling, glass breaking. I no longer felt so comfortable in that building realizing it too could tumble but was quickly resigned to the fact that within four seconds of a quick decision, I had one way or another sealed my fate. A few minutes later the ocean receded, and I ran out with some local kids to help an old woman who had been clinging to a nearby tree. The street emptied of water pretty quickly, revealing an unbroken line of destruction down the street. We heard a man yelling from an overturned rickshaw, and with a group of others lifted it off his partially crushed body; in the process, one of the kids impaled his foot on a piece of broken glass. There was a chaos of acitivity in the street, shop keepers grabbing what they could, tourists stumbling in shock, many people hurt in some way but seemingly not badly; that five minutes of activity again turned to panic as somebody yelled that the ocean was coming back. The second surge was more powerful and longer, but where I was, most people managed to get to a safer place for it. Again, ten minutes after the ocean receded, the streets drained, and a flurry of activity started again, the salvage of friends and material possessions carried out quickly until it looked like the surge was coming again. It was over, but for the next few hours no one was sure, and the perpetual fear-mongers among the tourists made sure to incite panic and rash decisions. I decided to stay close to the coast as many fled inland, helping dress the cut leg of a friend I made in the excitement and deciding that I'd prefer to see and know what was going on. Walking down to the ocean, I watched a series of heroic actions, as local kids on rafts brought in surfers and snorkellers that had been stranded in the water for hours. Meanwhile, the beach was an unrecognizable mess and the shopkeepers and hotel owners were collapsed in chairs in tears. I looked through hollow eyes and saw hollow eyes looking back. By the afternoon, it was clearer that the events were over, though the local rumors of it coming back continued to circulate. It turned out that the building I had been in was the only place with cold beer, and returning from a short and disillusioning walk, there were a number of sun-burned, overweight foreign tourists drunk and ordering around the same kid whose foot had been lacerated by a shard of glass. When the floods came, they were on the fourth floor of their super hotel. It was the first time I had the sensation that would continue to pervade for several days; in a time of disaster where everything, but especially food, water, and electricity were scarce, anyone with the financial means to do so, would buy it up. A British photographer and I went for a walk later that evening into the main part of the town, a five minutes walk further from where I had run up into the restaurant (the 'Blue Fox" incidentally), and the scene was beyond belief. All day, I had been amazed by how little one could know by actually being there; what had happened in my immediate view was the only knowledge that I had, and that sitting before a computer in North America, I would've known more of what was going on than where I was; based on what I saw alone, I knew it was a horrendous incident, but it wasn't until I made it to the town center that the full scale became clear. Everywhere the buildings were entirely demolished, cars and buses were overturned, hanging over bridges, through windows. Boats from the harbor had been carried up to two hundred meters in from the shore. Electric wires were lying in the street next to corpses. The photographer, Richard went along to take photos and I turned back. Five minutes more and thats where I would've been with nowhere to run, in the same part of town where hundreds of people were killed. I had a serene evening with some local kids and a few tourists spending the night on the floor in a candlelit Buddhist temple. Everyone had a story that we shared amidst the wafts of coconut oil and incense. The text book natural disaster, and as the WHO now warns will become increasingly worse in the event of Cholera, lack of water and electricity. I was surrounded by tourists who just needed out, and they were throwing cash at every driver trying to get back to Colombo. Invariably, they did, and instead of being used to transport the injured or bring in supplies, demands were being dictated by the dollar. I tried to find something to do, but other than clear rubbish from the streets, I am completely without relevant skill. I decided yesterday morning to jump in a van with some other tourists, an envied ticket out, but as we drove away, I felt awful like I was running away and maybe I could do something, the reality being that I can't. One of the girls remarked later on that she felt so much better now that we were gone; Its the problem with the developed world as a whole; when it gets too much, we can just tune out, leave, and for us it really is over. The destruction, the devastation, the shortages of supplies, the rebuilding process, coping with the death of friends and families were something that we didn't have to deal with. The southern coast of Sri lanka had in fact ceased to exist as we drove into the mist of the hills. And I have to admit, I felt better. On the road to the hills, we passed an endless convoy of volunteers and medical supplies heading to the coast, to the world that no longer existed to those in the van. I thought of so much on that drive that I wanted to be able to put into words, that I feel I can no longer do. Things about hypocrisy and our illusions of reality. Perhaps I'll be able to materialize that emotion at some point later in the trip, but for now, its stored in a sensation that is beyond my attempt to verbalize it. I said earlier, that I felt natural disasters were a micro-cosm of life, somehow following the same socio-economic determinism. Like everywhere else, the poorest suffer hardest. It was overwhelming to log onto the computer this morning and find so many emails in my account. Thank you for worrying about me, although I feel strange because I never felt in danger. Only today did I hear that 23,000 were killed in Sri Lanka alone. I'll stay around here for a little while, for how long I'm not so sure. Best, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_Wilbur Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Dave, Thanks for sharing with our readers. I passed by there once on a ship. It is really difficult to imagine the amount of devastation that occurred there. You are truly lucky to be alive. Here is a map of the South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_Wilbur Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 SRI LANKA DISASTER RELIEF FUND Contributions to the ongoing Sri Lanka relief efforts can be made by cash, check or wire transfer. ** Please note that the Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund is not tax deductible**. Checks and wire transfers should be made out to “Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund” Please note that deposits can be made at any Wachovia Bank or branch. Wachovia Bank, 1300 I Street, NW, Washington DC 20005 Swift: PNBPUS33 ABA#: 054001220 Account: 2000024529976 Questions related to Wachovia Bank account please call: 1-800-922-4684 Credit Card Contributions can be made by calling your credit card company and providing them with the account information listed above. At this time Wachovia Bank is unable to process online credit card payments. We regret any inconvenience caused. MEDICAL SUPPLY CONTRIBUTIONS SHIPMENTS: Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Tourist Board Mr.Dillan Ariyawansa Honorary Director - USA Sri Lanka Tourist Board 111, Wood Avenue South Iselin, NJ 08830 Tel: (908) 361-2621 Fax: (732) 452-0087 Email: ctbUSA@anlusa.com Sri Lanka Airlines Mr. Rohan Siriwardene Country Representative - USA Sri Lankan Airlines Gsa - Sri Lankan Travel Inc Head Office - New Jersey 111,Wood Avenue South Iselin, NJ 08830 Tel: (732) 205-0017 Fax: (732) 205-0299 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_Wilbur Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 The agencies listed below are accepting donations for assistance they or their affiliates are providing to those affected by the earthquake and tsunamis: Action Against Hunger 247 West 37th Street New York, NY 10018 212-967-7800 http://www.actionagainsthunger.org ADRA International Asia Tsunami Crisis Fund 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 800-424-ADRA (2372) http://www.adra.org Air Serv International 6583 Merchant Place, Suite 100 Warrenton, VA 20187 540-428-2323 http://www.airserv.org American Friends Service Committee 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-241-7050 http://www.afsc.org American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc. JDC-South Asia Tsunami Relief P.O. Box 321 847A Second Avenue New York, New York 10017 212-885-0832 http://www.jdc.org American Jewish World Service 45 W. 36th St., 10th Fl. New York, NY 10018 212-736-2597 http://www.ajws.org American Red Cross International Response Fund 2025 E St. NW Washington, DC 20006 800-HELP-NOW http://www.redcross.org AmeriCares 88 Hamilton Ave Stamford, CT 06902 800-486-4357 http://www.americares.org Baptist World Aid Asia Tidal Waves 405 North Washington Street Falls Church, VA 22046 703 790 8980 http://www.bwanet.org/bwaid B'nai B'rith International B'nai B'rith Disaster Relief Fund 2020 K Street NW 7th Floor Washington, DC 20006 212-490-3290 http://www.bnaibrith.org Brother's Brother Foundation 1200 Galveston Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15233 412-321-3160 http://www.brothersbrother.org CARE 151 Ellis Street NE Atlanta, GA 30303 800-521-CARE http://www.care.org Catholic Relief Services 209 West Fayette Street Baltimore, MD 21201 877-HELP-CRS http://www.catholicrelief.org Christian Children's Fund Child Alert Fund PO Box 26484 Richmond, Virginia - 23261-6484 800-776-6767 http://www.ChristianChildrensFund.org Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) South Asia Earthquake 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE Grand Rapids, MI, 49560 800-55-CRWRC http://www.crwrc.org Church World Service PO Box 968 Elkhart, IN 46515 800-297-1516 http://www.churchworldservice.org Direct Relief International 27 South La Patera Lane Santa Barbara, CA 93117 805-964-4767 http://www.directrelief.org Episcopal Relief and Development South Asia Relief Fund 815 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 800-334-7626, ext. 5129 http://www.er-d.org Food for the Hungry, Inc. Food for the Hungry Asia Quake Relief 1224 E. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ 85034 800-2-HUNGERS http://www.fh.org Habitat for Humanity International Asia Tsunami Response Fund 121 Habitat St Americus, GA 31709 229-924-6935 http://www.habitat.org International Aid 17011 W. Hickory Spring Lake, MI 49456 800-968-7490 http://www.internationalaid.org International Medical Corps Tsunami Emergency Response 1919 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 300 Santa Monica, CA 90404-1950 800-481-4462 http://www.imcworldwide.org International Relief Teams Asia Earthquake/Floods 3547 Camino Del Rio South, Suite C San Diego, CA 92108 619-284-7979 http://www.IRTeams.org International Rescue Committee PO Box 5058 Hagerstown, MD 21741-9874 877-REFUGEE or 733-8433 http://www.theIRC.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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