this is amazing, this bbc reporter climbed a tree and it got swept away, the whole disaster is awful, i couldn't believe it when i saw the picture this morning. I'm in a town called Unawatuna, which is on the south coast of Sri Lanka. We didn't feel the earthquake here so there was no warning at all. Then at about 1000 this morning our time a huge wave suddenly hit the beach. We were still in bed in a ground floor room right on the beachfront when we suddenly heard some shouts from outside. Then the water started coming under the door. Within a few seconds it was touching the window. We very quickly scrambled to get out as the windows started to cave in and glass shattered everywhere. We swam out of the room neck deep in water, forcing our way through the tables and chairs in the restaurant and up into a tree. But within about 30 seconds that tree collapsed as well and we were thrust back into the water where we had to try and keep our heads above the water line. We were swept along for a few hundred metres, trying to dodge the motorcycles, refrigerators, cars and other debris that were coming with us. Finally, about 300m inshore, we managed to get hold of a pillar, which we held onto until the waters just gradually began to subside. Little help Other people though weren't so lucky. One elderly British gentleman was walking around in a state of shock. His wife had been swimming when the waves struck. And a family has just walked past carrying a very small bundle with pale white feet poking out the bottom of it. As they walked past, the teenage son, wearing an England football shirt said in a very matter of fact way "My brother is dead". Looking around it's easy to see that this has caused incredible devastation here. There are cars in trees, buildings destroyed. But it is impossible really to get an accurate picture of the number of casualties from where I am. I haven't looked around a great deal yet, and I certainly haven't been inside the ruins of the hotel or other buildings, or joined in the digging. But in one small area of one small village I have seen four bodies so far, including two Sri Lankans - an elderly lady and a young woman - and the Western boy who looked to be about five years old. There are no kind of emergency services here, there are no helicopters thumping through the sky to come to save people. It is a do-it-yourself rescue. People are trying to go through the buildings and rescue those who might be trapped. Most people have gone up onto higher ground, fearful of another tidal wave - rumours are that another one might be coming and people are trying to get up onto the hills. There are no real medical services here either at the moment. A call went round about 15 minutes ago for a doctor because a man's pulse was getting weaker and weaker but there are no doctors here. I think the death toll is likely to rise quite sharply as rescuers start to arrive, and bodies begin to be dug out.
its such an awful thing to have happened. last count i heard the deaths were up to 22,000. its so sad, am sending many prayers their way...*sigh* namaste x x x
my heart goes out to you... i only wish there was something i could do. this is truly the most saddest natural disaster i have heard of................
22,000 deaths, it's a human tragedy, and pretty soon it'll all be forgotten. If they were American lives, we'd be hearing about this for years to come. It really puts things into perspective....
I've got a couple of friends backpacking somewhere in SE Asia right now ... so far they haven't responded to the text messages I've been sending (nor have I had any delivery reports) ... I'm just hoping that they're over the east side of Malaysia or somewhere inland right now ...
it's terrifying...and it's, what, 2/3rds of the lives lost could have saved if there had been an early warning system in place?...imagine being a scientist watching the tsunami roll over the ocean knowing what would follow and being able to do nothing. shouldn't have been like that.
My brother may be heading out to India soon to help with the relief effort. I'm very proud of him....
The approximate death toll is currently 60,000. Some of you may dislike what I am about to say but I feel that it needs to be said. The Tsunami could not have been stopped. An early warning would have saved what, 3/4 of those killed as a direct result of the wave? That leaves still 15,000 dead but the number displaced (approx. 1.5 million) would remain the same. Many more will still die as a result of disease, lack of water(ironic?) & food. That cannot be stopped either. This is not a tragedy, it is an unfortunate natural disaster on a gigantic scale and my heart does truly go out to those who have been affected. But it is not a tragedy, because it could not have been stopped. What is a tragedy is the millions of people around the world who have been killed, who have lost their homes and their liveliehoods through war. Something that can be stopped. That is a tragedy.
the tsunami went so far, it's the equivilent of something happening in mongolia and it affecting anyone in london. that's crazy. it also annoys me that the UN are willing to help people after a big disaster who were ok before, but they won't help anyone in africa and places like that where they're always dying from disease and starvation.
this is a tragedy..its a tragedy for those who have lost their loved ones their families their homes and their lives...its so sad ...feel sick to think of the amount of lives lost
It doesn't matter how someone dies, it doesn't stop it from being tragic for the people involved. Whether something was preventable or not is irrelevent to the amount of pain and suffering that the victims and survivors are now going through. It's like saying that someone dying from cancer isn't that tragic because they weren't shot with an AK47
What, debating whether something qualifies as a 'tragedy' rather than just expressing some compassion? Yup, I dislike that.
we do pretty much as it is. and if anything at all could have saved even a fraction of those lives, it would have been worth it.
I Agree... it brought home how trivial my worries are.... lets not bring oh well its not a war is it..gee whiz.
BBC News 1800 hrs now reports death toll could be as high as 100,000. Puts the Twin Towers disaster into perspective doesn't it.
because sometimes things just happen, like earthquakes. you cant predict everything that the earth is going to do. they could have got some notification possibly, they were probably looking in the wrong place at the wrong time.
was the ocean bed in that area being monitored ? I thought they were dragging their feet (therby not doing anything) because of money and other more pressing agendas.. This rarely happens, so maintaining such equipment and having the resoures available .. possibly for 40 years or more with nothing happening... may in some people mind seem like a waste of money ?.. imho sadly this is always the type of disaster that kick starts some positive change . Ocean disaster toll hits 114,000
