Maybe Up To 6000 Dead, Tidal Waves Slams Thailand

[Dario]

KEY AID PLEDGES

Source: Reuters, United Nations

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's hard to wrap your head around some of these numbers and probably some like the UK have just upgraded. I worked out the Per Capita cost to the individual countries listed using the populations in the CIA Factbook.

KEY AID PLEDGES & per capita pledges by country

EU $44m

US: $35m .......$0.119

Canada: $33m ..... $1.03

Japan: $30m ..... $0.236

UK: $90m ..... $1.50

Australia: $27m ..... $1.42

France: $20.4m..... $0.60

Denmark: $15.6m...... $2.88

Saudi Arabia: $10m .....$0.389

Norway: $6.6m.........$1.43

Taiwan: $5.1m .....$0.44

Finland: $3.4m .... $0.65

Kuwait: $2.1m ..... $0.95

Netherlands: $2.6m .....$0.159

UAE: $2m ..... $0.004

Ireland $1.3m ...... $0.30

Singapore: $1.2m .... $0.28

I'm not trying to point a finger, but in general a lot of these developed countries are not stepping up to the plate. As a Canadian, I'm almost embarrased at the pitance my country has responded with. I believe that it should be in the range of $5US to $10US range per capita. That would make it between 160M and 320US as an example and would alow some of the countries hardest hit to start the rebuilding process without further bankrupting their countries. We wealthy nations must do more to help the less fortunate not just in this disaster but in general.

Justy personal thoughts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Switzerland has pledged 25 million SFr. which translates into $21.8 m. Switzerland has a population of 7 million. So we can add:

Switzerland: $21.8 ...... $3.11

This is only the pledge done by the government and you can check this here: http://www.blick.ch/news/killerflut/artikel16069. There are millions more donated by the people to institutions such as the Red Cross and others.

Cheers from a Swiss in BKK

[Darknight]

Tsunami toll 125,000, huge relief effort mobilised

Reuters

By Tomi Soetjipto and Dean Yates

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Asia's tsunami death toll soared above 125,000 on Friday as millions struggled to find food, shelter and clean water, while the world began what may prove to be the biggest relief effort in history.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the disaster that has displaced 5 million people was "an unprecedented global catastrophe and it requires an unprecedented global response". He said a half-billion dollars had been pledged so far.

Aid agencies and experts warned a second wave of death from contagious diseases could hit Indian Ocean areas devastated by Sunday's tsunami, with children especially vulnerable.

"The worst is yet to come, I am afraid, because of the breakdown of sanitation facilities," said Dr. Robert Edelman, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland.

Indonesia, where 80,000 have died, said on Friday it would host an international tsunami summit on Jan. 6 to hammer out aid and reconstruction needs.

Desperate crowds, their faces covered with masks or handkerchiefs against disease, besieged aid workers delivering food in Indonesia's Aceh province and clamoured for petrol for their vehicles.

The tragedy that has touched all corners of the globe is ushering in a sombre New Year's Eve. Some 5,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans at popular Indian Ocean resorts, are missing and hopes are dimming they will be found alive.

A Red Cross Web site in Geneva to aid anxious relatives locate survivors partially crashed after being overwhelmed by 650,000 hits in the first 24 hours.

Dozens of aftershocks have unnerved the traumatised survivors after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 40 years, sent an unprecedented tsunami rolling from Indonesia to Africa.

The Indian government issued an alert following one aftershock on Thursday that sent residents fleeing in panic and halted aid distribution in towns in Tamil Nadu state.

"I don't know how often this (tsunami) will happen but it has suddenly made our lives uncertain," said Apparachi Ashokan, a fisherman at Devanampatti village near Cuddalore town, 170 km (100 miles) south of Madras.

Residents in worst-hit Banda Aceh city on the Indonesian island of Sumatra bolted from their homes for a second straight night after aftershocks late Thursday night.

PRIVATE DONATIONS SOARING

U.S. President George W. Bush, criticised for a slow reaction to the disaster, said he would send a delegation led by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region on Sunday to assess the need for U.S. assistance. Bush has pledged $35 million so far.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a flotilla of ships is steaming to Thailand to set up a base to coordinate aid for the region.

People across the world opened their hearts and wallets to give millions of dollars to victims, jamming phone lines and Web sites and in some cases outpacing their own governments in their generosity.

The Paris Club group of creditors is to examine a debt moratorium for disaster-struck countries, a source close to the Club said.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Jakarta has invited heads of state from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and the United States to the aid summit along with the U.N., World Bank and other agencies.

Analysts estimated damages from the disaster at about $14 billion, but that does not include potential losses of business and productivity. Some are cutting economic growth estimates for the hardest-hit countries.

Getting aid to the survivors is the big problem, with many roads washed out, petrol stations not operating and poor coordination among the military, aid groups and governments.

Many villages and resorts from Thailand to Indonesia are now mud-covered rubble, blanketed with the stench of corpses.

Weary volunteers and aid workers were piling body after bloated body into temporary mortuaries in Khao Lak, Thailand, where nearly 2,000 foreign tourists are known to have died.

"They just keep coming," said New Zealander Marko Cunningham at a makeshift mortuary in one of the Buddhist temples near the beach. "Everyone is sick of it." International forensic teams have flown in to identify badly decomposed bodies before burial.

Aircraft dropped supplies to nearly obliterated towns in Sumatra, an island the size of Florida.

But food and medical supplies were stacking up at the airport on Friday in Banda Aceh, which Indonesia is calling ground zero for the disaster, but few vehicles could be seen delivering aid to the devastated city.

Hundreds of people lined up with Jerry cans at the few working petrol pumps guarded by police with automatic weapons.

"The police are there, otherwise there would be violence," said Zezi Afrizal, 26, a food vendor. "Tell the world we need more fuel."

Handwritten signs tacked up on utility poles and fences across the city pleaded: "Please help. Give us aid."

The hundreds of thousands of homeless were being housed in refugee camps around the Indian Ocean.

Many of them, like Jackson, a 75-year-old farmer on India's remote Nicobar island, are now refugees.

"We are still terrified of the water and the thought of returning to the place where we lost everything," he said at a refugee camp in Port Blair, the main town in the island chain.

"But that island is still the only home I know and I would rather go back soon and die peacefully there than live as a refugee."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29719800.htm

[Darknight]

UN urges 'special' wave response

From BBC News

Delivery of aid remains a problem in many areas

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said the scale of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster demands an unprecedented world response.

He said the international community had reacted well to the wave aftermath but long-term commitment was required.

The World Bank, individual countries and citizens have pledged $500m in aid.

The death toll from Sunday's disaster is continuing to rise as relief workers reach more remote areas. More than 123,000 people are now confirmed dead.

Thousands of people remain unaccounted for after the 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake off Sumatra sent a wall of water smashing into coastlines as far away as east Africa.

Aid agencies have been struggling to provide relief to the region.

Map of affected countries and their death tolls

The World Health Organization says as many as five million people are at risk, with little water, food or shelter.

'Enormous strain'

US Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet Mr Annan on Friday before setting off on a visit to tsunami-hit areas on Sunday.

Mr Annan said after a meeting in New York with UN officials that the entire UN family was ready to help people rebuild their lives.

KEY AID PLEDGES

World Bank $250m

UK $96m

EU $44m

US: $35m

Canada: $33m

Japan: $30m

Australia: $27m

France: $20.4m

Denmark: $15.6m

Saudi Arabia: $10m

Source: Reuters, United Nations

But he said there was an enormous strain on the UN, its staff and resources, and the disaster was so huge that no single country or agency could cope alone.

"This is an unprecedented global catastrophe and it requires an unprecedented global response," he said.

"But we must also remain committed for the longer term. We know that the impact will be felt for a long time to come."

The World Bank has announced it is giving $250m to help victims while the UK increased its contribution to $96m, the biggest donation from an individual country.

NATURAL DISASTERS

2004: Asian quake disaster - more than 122,000 dead

2003: Earthquake in Bam, Iran, officially kills 26,271

1976: Earthquake in Tangshan, China, kills 242,000

1970: Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 500,000

1887: China's Yellow River breaks its banks in Huayan Kou killing 900,000

1826: Tsunami kills 27,000 in Japan

1815: Volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on Indonesia's Sumbawa Island kills 90,000

1556: Earthquake in China's Shanxi and Henan provinces kills 830,000

World's worst disasters

The International Red Cross has opened a special website to cope with what it describes as the overwhelming amount of donations.

Support is also growing for a debt moratorium for some of the stricken countries, with France backing a proposal made by Germany.

Canada has announced its own unilateral moratorium.

Italy called for an extraordinary G8 summit to discuss debt relief, but UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was the job of the UN not the G8 to co-ordinate aid.

Stockpiles mount

Mr Powell agreed the UN had chief responsibility for co-ordinating the aid effort, despite a move by Washington to set up a core group of donor countries with India, Australia and Japan.

Donors were considering holding a conference next week, he said.

FOREIGNERS MISSING AND DEAD

Sweden: 44 dead, at least 1,400 missing

Germany: 33 dead, over 1,000 missing

Britain: 28 dead, 50 missing

France: 22 dead, 90 missing

Norway: 21 dead, 430 missing

Italy: 14 dead, 600 missing

US: 14 dead, thousands unaccounted for

Switzerland: 11 dead, 850 unaccounted for

Australia: 10 dead, 1,000 missing

Mr Powell go to the affected region with US President George W Bush's brother Jeb, who has experience of handling natural disasters as governor of Florida, which was hit by three devastating hurricanes this year.

There are problems getting aid through to where it is needed as much of the region's infrastructure has been shattered.

Stockpiles of supplies have begun to mount at some airports and distribution centres, where helicopter shortages have held up airlifts of aid.

Health ministry officials in Indonesia put the death toll there at 79,940 on Thursday after large numbers of bodies were found on Sumatra's remote north-west coast.

Government institutions in the region have collapsed and fuel supplies have almost run out, officials said.

On Thursday, aftershocks off Indonesia triggered fresh panic among survivors in Aceh, the worst-hit province.

Rumours of impending waves quickly spread to the two other countries which bore the brunt of Sunday's tsunamis - India and Sri Lanka - prompting a mass flight from coastal areas.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4136153.stm

[george]

Thousands of volunteers sent to the troubled South

BANGKOK, Dec. 31 (TNA) - Several thousands of volunteers would be dispatched to some 250 villages in three trouble-plagued provinces in the South to reinforce community relationships as well as maintain peace and order, a police spokesman said.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Pongsapat Pongcharoen said the 3,000 volunteers from the Provincial Police Region 9 would join police forces in working closely with local people who are willing to help restore peace in their respective villages in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

The volunteers' first tasks were to repair villagers' houses, provide security in the villages and keep a close watch to prevent attacks from militants during the New Year's holidays, he said.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Pongsapat said government officials, police and soldiers have deployed forces and prepared themselves for any unfavourable incidents that may occur.

The authorities however believed the situation would improve and the police's effort to enhance community relationships would be cooperated by local residents in the long run, he said.

--TNA 2004-12-31

[george]

Phuket yet to decide on bodies of foreigners

PHUKET: -- Thousands of dead bodies washed up in Phuket were on Thursday posing a dilemma for authorities, with Western countries keen to preserve the remains of their nationals for identification and Thai health officials favouring quick disposal.

Given the acute shortage of refrigerated containers to carry the dead, a macabre scenario of decomposing bodies was adding to the human tragedy.

Four days after giant tidal waves set off by a massive earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra devastated several coastal regions across the Indian Ocean, the bodies along Phuket's coast have bloated beyond recognition. They are oozing liquids which could contaminate water and spread disease.

Foreign governments mindful of public concern want to do everything for the victims' families. But on the Thai side, health officials are pressing for speedily burning the corpses.

--AFP 2004-12-30

[george]

Officials speed up salvaging wreckages from tidal waves

BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has been speeding up the salvage of ship wreckages in coastal areas hit by last Sunday's tidal waves.

Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob said agriculture officials, joining forces with other government agencies, had salvaged about 100 boats in various villages in Phuket and the entire task should be finished within two days.

The agriculture minister would later travel to adjacent Phang-nga province, one of the severely-battered towns, to oversee the salvaging operations in the two villages of Nam Kem in Takua Pa and Thab Lamung in Tai Muang district where some 80 ships, each weighing 100 tons, were flushed ashore.

''There may be bodies inside the ships. We have asked for assistances from the Royal Thai Navy and ship manufacturers,'' said the minister, adding that fishermen affected by the tsunamis could fill up papers in order to seek financial assistances from the government.

''The fishermen should contact fishery offices in their respective tsunamis-hit provinces to fill up papers for financial assistances. They should get the money by next month,'' said the minister.

''In the meantime, small fish farmers will be given the maximum of 12,000 baht each while those owning boats with the maximum length of ten meters would get around 200,000 baht each," said

Mr. Newin. "For damages beyond the ministry's authority, a proposal will be made to the Cabinet for higher financial aids."

--TNA 2004-12-31

[Darknight]

-Relief efforts multiply as tsunami toll climbs(updated)

Reuters

By Tomi Soetjipto and Dean Yates

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The world sped up what may be its biggest relief effort on Friday to help millions of tsunami survivors desperate for food, shelter and clean water, while the death toll marched relentlessly on.

Sri Lanka said more than 28,500 people were now confirmed dead and Indonesia, which has suffered the most, said its toll was likely to pass 100,000. This would take the total number of lives claimed by Sunday's huge sea waves above 140,000.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the disaster that has also displaced 5 million people was "an unprecedented global catastrophe and it requires an unprecedented global response".

"Not only are we going to be stretched in terms of manpower and human resources, but we are also going to be stretched financially and technically," he said. Half a billion dollars had been pledged so far.

Experts warned that even before the corpses could be counted, contagious diseases could bring more deaths in the devastated Indian Ocean areas, with children especially vulnerable.

"The worst is yet to come, I am afraid, because of the breakdown of sanitation facilities," said Dr. Robert Edelman, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland.

Indonesia said it would host an international tsunami summit on Jan. 6 to hammer out aid and reconstruction needs after what looks set to be the most lethal natural disaster since China's Tangshan quake in 1976 killed at least a quarter of a million.

Desperate crowds, their faces covered with masks or handkerchiefs against disease, besieged aid workers delivering food and clamoured for petrol in its worst-hit Aceh province.

The tragedy is ushering in a sombre New Year's Eve around the globe. Some 6,000 foreign tourists, most of them Europeans, at popular Indian Ocean resorts, are missing and presumed dead.

A Red Cross Web site in Geneva to aid anxious relatives locate survivors partially crashed after being overwhelmed by 650,000 hits in the first 24 hours.

Dozens of aftershocks have unnerved the traumatised survivors after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 40 years, triggered an unprecedented series of waves that crashed into coasts from Indonesia to Africa at a height of up to 10 metres (33 feet).

Residents in Banda Aceh city on the Indonesian island of Sumatra bolted from their homes for a second straight night after aftershocks late on Thursday.

PRIVATE DONATIONS SOARING

U.S. President George W. Bush, criticised for a slow reaction, said a delegation led by Secretary of State Colin Powell would visit the region on Sunday to assess needs. Also going with Powell is Bush's brother Jeb, governor of hurricane-scarred Florida state.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a flotilla of ships is steaming to Thailand to set up a base to coordinate aid for the region. Giant U.S. military transport aircraft were landing at Indonesia's northern city of Medan and disgorging emergency supplies to be trucked to Aceh.

Bush has offered $35 million so far. China became the latest country to beef up its contribution, pledging $63 million.

People across the world opened their hearts and wallets to give millions of dollars to victims, jamming phone lines and Web sites and in some cases outpacing their own governments in their generosity.

The Paris Club group of creditors is to examine a debt moratorium for disaster-struck countries, a source close to the Club said. Canada announced its own moratorium.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Jakarta has invited heads of state from across Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States to the aid summit along with the U.N., World Bank and other agencies.

Analysts estimated damage from the disaster at about $14 billion, excluding potential losses of business and productivity. Some are cutting growth estimates for the hardest-hit countries.

Getting aid to the survivors is the big problem, with many roads washed out, petrol stations not operating and poor coordination among the military, aid groups and governments.

Many villages and resorts from Sri Lanka to Indonesia are now mud-covered rubble, blanketed with the stench of corpses.

Weary volunteers and aid workers were piling body after bloated body into temporary mortuaries in Khao Lak, Thailand, where nearly 2,000 foreign tourists are known to have died.

"They just keep coming," said New Zealander Marko Cunningham at a makeshift mortuary in one of the Buddhist temples near the beach. "Everyone is sick of it." International forensic teams have flown in to identify badly decomposed bodies before burial.

Aircraft dropped supplies to nearly obliterated towns in Sumatra, an island the size of Florida.

But food and medical supplies were stacking up at the airport on Friday in Banda Aceh. Few vehicles could be seen delivering aid to the devastated city, let alone to remoter areas.

Hundreds of people lined up with Jerry cans at the few working petrol pumps guarded by police with semi-automatic weapons.

"The police are there, otherwise there would be violence," said Zezi Afrizal, 26, a food vendor. "Tell the world we need more fuel."

Handwritten signs tacked up on utility poles and fences across the city pleaded: "Please help. Give us aid."

The hundreds of thousands of homeless were being housed in refugee camps around the Indian Ocean.

Many of them, like Jackson, a 75-year-old farmer on India's remote Nicobar island, are now refugees.

"We are still terrified of the water and the thought of returning to the place where we lost everything," he said at a refugee camp in Port Blair, the main town in the island chain.

"But that island is still the only home I know and I would rather go back soon and die peacefully there than live as a refugee."

[george]

Foreign envoys briefed on tsunami relief operations

BANGKOK: -- Thailand’s Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told ambassadors from 40 countries about the authorities' relief operations in the tsunami hit areas on Thursday.

The Thai government would be responsible for the medical costs of victims who were treated at state-run hospitals and the costs of transporting the bodies of the dead back to their countries, he said.

The foreign minister also dismissed rumours that dead bodies of many foreign victims had been cremated without being identified. The cremated were all Thai victims who had been identified by their relatives, he said.

A number of bodies of foreign victims, who had been identified, have been buried temporarily till they are claimed by their relatives, Mr. Surakiart said.

The foreign minister also appealed to the ambassadors to help provide at least a hundred DNA experts to help identify the dead bodies.

Forty-two countries and four international organisations have sent letters of condolences to His Majesty the King, the prime minister and the foreign minister.

--TNA 2004-12-31

[george]

Help from German relief teams continue

BANGKOK: -- Seventeen German relief personnel, arrived in the southern town of Phuket last Tuesday, have continued their search-and-rescue missions together

with Thai authorities in tsunami-hit provinces in the South.

The team, according to the German Embassy in Bangkok, also provided

technical supports which included road clearing and re-establishing

communications lines.

The embassy reported that the German government had also despatched 20

medical doctors from the German Red Cross to support local hospitals in

the South while a forensic team has arrived to help its Thai counterpart.

Meanwhile, evacuations of German and other foreign nationals from Phuket

and Bangkok were underway. The embassy said several chartered flights and

planes provided by the German government including Medical Evacuation

planes or "flying hospitals" were carrying out the missions.

-- TNA 2004-12-31

[chuchok]

Don't give up hope, says reunited tsunami family

31.12.04 1.00pm

A mother whose daughter was nearly swept to her death by the tsunami in Asia has told other parents not to give up hope.

Her message comes as officials say another two New Zealanders are now believed to be dead after the tsunami triggered by an earthquake struck southeast Asia on Sunday.

Hundreds of New Zealanders have yet to be found.

Yesterday at Auckland airport, Greta Hardaker ran to embrace her 28-year-old daughter Gemma, as she arrived back from Thailand's Phi Phi Island with her partner, Daryl Lewell, 26.

"Hold on, there could be some hope," Ms Hardaker said to parents still waiting to hear news.

"You never know what's around the corner. There's news coming in all the time."

Miss Hardaker and Mr Lewell were holidaying off Thailand's southwest coast when a series of tsunami swamped the island, destroying villages and killing hundreds.

They clung to each other on a building to escape being swept out to sea. They were airlifted to Bangkok on Monday to receive medical treatment for cuts to their legs.

Miss Hardaker said many tourists were still helping in make-shift medical facilities.

- NZPA

[taxexile]

Thaksin, who faces a general election in February he is expected to win handsomely, said he had turned down foreign offers of further help.

"Some government leaders have called me and asked if we needed anything else and I said 'thanks for your consideration, but no thanks, we have enough,'" he told state television.

but,

Given the acute shortage of refrigerated containers to carry the dead, a macabre scenario of decomposing bodies was adding to the human tragedy.

and

The foreign minister also appealed to the ambassadors to help provide at least a hundred DNA experts to help identify the dead bodies.

whilst the aid workers on the front lines struggle to help and search in terrible conditions with limited resources , the politician(s) , as usual , just seem to make fools of themselves with conflicting statements born out of a stubborn pride that show just how out of touch their right hands are with their left ones.

[Dickie]

not stepping up to the plate.  As a Canadian, I'm almost embarrased at the pitance my country has responded with.  I believe that it should be in the range of $5US to $10US

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your country has given more than most in that list on a per capita basis so no red face necessary. The rich countries tend to be rich because they don't splash it about, so no change there.

[Darknight]

Thaksin, who faces a general election in February he is expected to win handsomely, said he had turned down foreign offers of further help.

"Some government leaders have called me and asked if we needed anything else and I said 'thanks for your consideration, but no thanks, we have enough,'" he told state television.

but,

Given the acute shortage of refrigerated containers to carry the dead, a macabre scenario of decomposing bodies was adding to the human tragedy.

and

The foreign minister also appealed to the ambassadors to help provide at least a hundred DNA experts to help identify the dead bodies.

whilst the aid workers on the front lines struggle to help and search in terrible conditions with limited resources , the politician(s) , as usual , just seem to make fools of themselves with conflicting statements born out of a stubborn pride that show just how out of touch their right hands are with their left ones.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

not stepping up to the plate.  As a Canadian, I'm almost embarrased at the pitance my country has responded with.  I believe that it should be in the range of $5US to $10US

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your country has given more than most in that list on a per capita basis so no red face necessary. The rich countries tend to be rich because they don't splash it about, so no change there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Open a thread in the subforum guys so i can move these topics

No political comments in this forum branch.

[george]

Govt rushes to build temporary accommodation for survivors

PHUKET, Dec 31 (TNA) - The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security today pledged to find emergency shelter as soon as possible for all those left homeless by Sunday's tsunamis.

Social Development and Human Resources Minister Sora-at Klinpratoom, speaking from Thailand's southern resort island of Phuket, said that ministry officials would also assess where permanent housing was needed.

Admitting that no clear figures had yet emerged on the number of people left without shelter, he said that the ministry was doing its best to plug the immediate gap.

In the Phuket village of Baan Nam Khem alone, over 1,000 people have been reported missing, with hundreds more made homeless.

Mr. Sora-at pledged that the ministry would ensure that all accommodation was geared to the real requirements of local people.

--TNA 2004-12-31

[george]

Govt to increase emergency funding for survivors

BANGKOK: -- The government is to consider boosting the level of emergency assistance for Sunday's tsunami survivors, Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn announced today.

Mr. Varathep said that under existing regulations, provincial governors could give Bt25,000 in funeral expenses to the heads of families who had lost someone in the tragedy, but hinted that this amount might be increased.

Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop, who heads the government's tsunami relief fund, has already indicated that each survivor will receive Bt20,000-25,000, and that this money will be distributed as soon as possible.

--TNA 2004-12-31

[aaaaaa]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4136599.stm

Friday, 31 December, 2004, 12:25 GMT

Reporters' log: Asia disaster

Aid teams are battling chaos to reach thousands who survived sea surges triggered by a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean. BBC correspondents report from affected areas around the region.

Friday 31 December

Chris Hogg : Phuket, Thailand: 1115 GMT

The reality is that a lot of Thai people in this region are still very scared. Some of them are still living up in the hills - they've gone up to high land and they don't want to return home.

The authorities are trying to distribute aid to them and also mosquito nets and sprays because they're worried about the spread of malaria in such rough country.

Chris Hogg : Phuket, Thailand: 0515 GMT

It is going to be a long and difficult struggle to identify the foreigners who were killed here.

The experts brought in to help the Thai authorities say it is now virtually impossible to identify the bodies by sight. Instead, they will try to use dental records or to match DNA samples provided by the relatives of those who are missing.

Ten international teams of forensic scientists are now involved in the operation, led by the Australians. They have warned that people who travel to Thailand to try to find the bodies of their loved ones could end up getting in the way.

They are urging people to provide DNA samples and information about their relatives' dental records to the authorities in their home countries instead.

[george]

Race to get corpses off Phi Phi by the end of the day

KRABI: -- Rescue workers today raced to clear rapidly decomposing corpses off Thailand's southern tourist resort of Koh Phi Phi, prior to a massive clean-up operation which aims to restore the island to a semblance of normality within the next three days.

Speaking this morning at a meeting for local officials in Krabi Province, Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Saengpratoom said that rescue workers were now rushing to clear all corpses, many of which are believed to be lying in a wastewater treatment plant on the island.

Rescue workers are now said to have all the equipment they need to deal with the bodies, and are injecting them with formalin to prevent further decomposition.

By the end of the day, rescue workers hope to have cleared all corpses off the island and onto the mainland, after which a volunteer army of around 300 will hold a night-long vigil to mourn the dead.

In the morning, volunteers including girl guides and boy scouts, will begin the clean-up operation, as well as make merit for the deceased by giving alms to Buddhist monks.

Mr. Sutham said that a lot of progress had been made on the island, and voiced confidence that the island would return to some kind of normality within three days.

Describing the tourist island as an important source of national revenue, he urged all parties to help restore the island to its original condition as soon as possible.

--TNA 2004-12-31

[george]

Govt draws up plans to repair provinces hit by tsunami

PHUKET: -- The government is drawing up integrated plans to revive the economy of Thailand's six southern provinces left devastated by Sunday's tsunamis, Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop announced today.

Speaking from the country's southern resort island of Phuket, Mr. Suwat, who chairs the government's relief fund, said that once the immediate situation had eased, the government would work to repair houses, schools and other buildings.

The government would also draw up plans to revive the entire economy of the region, whether through the generation of employment or the development of towns, villages and tourist destinations.

Mr. Suwat, who said that the government had already set aside Bt1.5 billion for local repair work, called on local leaders to survey the extent of the tsunami damage and draw up funding requests.

He also promised that while the government would work through existing administrative structures, it would also seek to plug the gaps, stressing that if workers made unemployed by the tsunamis found themselves ineligible for assistance from the Social Security Office (SSO), they might, nevertheless, be able to come into other assistance money.

The government's emergency relief fund has already received donations of Bt245 million, and Mr. Suwat said today that this money would be distributed as soon as possible to the survivors in the six affected provinces, including Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang, Ranong and Satun--starting with Phuket.

Relief centres set up in all the six provincial's halls will enable members of the public, including foreigners, to request funding of Bt2,000, while people who have lost relatives will be able to collect up to Bt10,000 each.

Funding of Bt20 million has been set aside to help foreign survivors, while local authorities in each province have been given additional sums, dependent on the extent to the damage.

--TNA 2004-12-31

[Darknight]

Devastating Asian Tsunami Darkens World's New Year

Reuters

By Tomi Soetjipto and Dean Yates

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Aircraft, naval vessels and trucks struggled Friday to deliver aid around stricken southern Asia as the death toll exceeded 124,000 from a devastating tsunami which darkened the world's New Year.

The emergency relief operation, probably the biggest in history, was up against debris-clogged harbours, power outages, washed-away roads and shattered towns in a race to save millions from dehydration and disease and halt a spiralling death toll.

"The whole area is still chaotic ... boats are arriving from the islands loaded with (dead) people," Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said after visiting Thailand. "In the whole area the death toll is beginning to rise toward 200,000."

Torrential rains in Sri Lanka cut off roads that had survived Sunday's colossal sea surge, keeping vital aid from hundreds of thousands in a nation that lost about 29,000 people.

"Even the gods are crying," said one hotelier in the city of Batticaloa. From Buddhist monks in robes to Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lanka stopped to mourn and canceled New Year celebrations.

In Khao Lak, Thailand, where more than 2,200 foreign tourists are known to have died, weary volunteers and aid workers piled body after bloated body into temporary mortuaries.

"They just keep coming," said New Zealander Marko Cunningham at a makeshift mortuary in a Buddhist temple, five days after the tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.0 quake off Indonesia.

In Indonesia's Aceh province where government officials said the toll may rise to 100,000, troops guarded fuel stations as the stench of death filled the air. Handwritten signs on poles and fences read: "Please help. Give us aid."

Indonesia's death toll was listed at about 80,000 people.

Rice sacks were stacked along the walls of a house guarded by a dozen armed soldiers in the city of Banda Aceh. Residents complained that troops were in some cases refusing to distribute the rice and keeping it for their families.

"Not since the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 have we been hit so hard by the devastating wrath of nature," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a New Year speech, referring to a volcanic eruption and tsunami that killed 36,000 people.

NEW YEAR MOURNING

Australia led the world in a global minute of silence, New Year parties were canceled and trees on Paris's grand Champs Elysees were shrouded in strips of black cloth.

Governments urged revelers to rein in excesses and spare thoughts for victims and money for survivors.

Britons raised 45 million pounds ($86 million), almost equal to that of their government's 50 million pounds and more than twice an initial U.S. government offer of $35 million.

Washington Friday upped its aid tenfold to $350 million, bringing total world emergency relief pledges to $1.36 billion. President Bush said the increase could be extended after Secretary of State Colin Powell tours devastated areas next week. Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany planned to fly flags at half mast to start 2005 in respect for the dead and missing.

European tourists, who fled a dark winter for the sunshine and sands of Asia, made up most of more than 2,200 foreign tourists killed by the tsunami. More than 7,400 were missing.

Relatives and friends flying to Asia from Europe in the hope that loved ones lay injured in hospital faced the grim reality they might be among bloated bodies in refrigerated containers.

They scoured gruesome mosaics of photographs of distorted faces pinned on bulletin boards alongside small possessions -- a ring or a watch -- which someone might recognize.

With the paradise idyll turned into a vision of ######, hundreds of thousands of homeless now live in makeshift tent camps around a region where 13 countries were afflicted.

The horror stories were endless.

"The water took my baby away," said Maitri Sayput in a Thai village. She fled with her three daughters from the tsunami which overtook her, tore the 7-year-old and the eldest daughter away before finally dumping her and her 12-year-old inland.

"Unfortunately, it's sort of like the World Trade Center, it seems like you either lived or died," Michael Martin, a doctor with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States

The humanitarian catastrophe caused by the tsunami that left millions without even the basics to survive, was unprecedented and stretched the world's ability to respond, the U.N. said.

Aid workers strained to dislodge corpses and dead animals from water drainpipes and wells in an attempt to restore clean water supplies. Aid groups fear that without clean water, the spread of disease could double the death toll.

Aid started to get through to stricken areas amid poor coordination and destruction. Some airports were struggling to cope. "We are already witnessing a logjam at key airfields," Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said.

Getting aid to survivors was also hampered by poor coordination among the military, aid groups and governments.

Trucks, however, laden with food, medicines and body bags rolled across Asia. Aircraft dropped supplies to cut-off villages as relief efforts swung into gear.

Giant transport planes from Australia and Singapore landed at Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh, and disgorged emergency supplies, but that was the easy part.

LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE

Sending help from regional centers to people cut off in coastal lands was a logistical nightmare.

Experts warned disease could kill many more, with children most at risk. Diarrhea, cholera and malaria are key dangers.

"People need to be treated now so they don't get deep infections," said Peter Sharwood, an Australian surgeon trying to hitch a ride into Banda Aceh.

Indonesia said it would host an international summit on Jan. 6 to discuss aid and reconstruction needs after what looks set to be the most lethal natural disaster since China's Tangshan quake in 1976 killed at least a quarter of a million.

Sri Lanka, further from the quake's epicenter but savagely hit, has put its death toll at 28,508.

"The true figure will probably never be known because people are burying the corpses where they find them," said Anjali Kwatra, of the island's Christian Aid emergency assessment team.

More than 10,000 died in India, and fatalities were caused as far away as east Africa. Aftershocks unnerved survivors of the waves up to 10 meters (30 feet) high that traveled at times as fast as an airliner and hit without warning.

Political debate broke out about Western countries' responses. Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson faced particular criticism for his government's slow reaction to the crisis

[Darknight]

Bush Raises Tsunami Aid Tenfold to $350 Million

Reuters

By David Morgan

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush, under pressure over the pace and scale of American aid to Asian tsunami victims, abruptly raised the U.S. contribution tenfold to $350 million on Friday.

The White House suggested U.S. assistance could rise still higher after a delegation headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell tours devastated areas next week and reports back to the president on the needs of an estimated 5 million tsunami survivors.

"The disaster around the Indian Ocean continues to grow," Bush said in a statement that emphasized U.S. intentions to coordinate immediate humanitarian relief to Asia through an international coalition including India, Japan and Australia.

"Our contributions will continue to be revised as the full effects of this terrible tragedy become clearer," said the statement released by the White House while Bush vacationed at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The president said the dramatic increase in assistance, which eclipsed a $250 million aid pledge from the World Bank, was based on initial the findings of U.S. assessment teams in hard-hit areas of southeastern and central Asia, and on a recommendation from senior officials including Powell.

The White House said Bush spoke to the prime ministers of Britain, Italy and Canada on Friday about the relief effort under way in devastated coastal areas of the Indian Ocean region.

The increased assistance was only the latest step the Bush administration and Congress to bolster America's contribution to relief efforts amid criticism that its initial response had been slow and miserly.

The $350 million sum far outstripped relief contributions from any other country and increased total aid pledges from nearly 40 nations by about 28 percent to nearly $1.36 billion. Before Friday's announcement, the biggest donors had been Britain with $96 million and Sweden with $80 million.

But even the larger number did not insulate the Bush administration from critics.

"It became more evident that $35 million was just not appropriate to the scale of the disaster. And $350 million is not appropriate either," remarked Brookings Institution analyst Ivo Daalder, who said the daunting humanitarian need required major involvement by the U.S. military and NATO.

"The administration's tendency has been to approach this like any other natural disaster," he added

Bush initially waited until Wednesday, three days after the tsunami struck 13 countries from Malaysia to East Africa, to announce $35 million in aid for the region where at least 124,000 people have died in the catastrophe.

Critics quickly compared the dollar sum to $13.6 billion in aid for hurricane-battered U.S. states that Congress passed speedily in the run-up to last month's U.S. elections.

On Thursday, the president announced that his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Powell would lead a delegation of experts to the region to assess the need for further U.S. assistance.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are set to work on an tsunami aid package that lawmakers promised would provide generous assistance soon, while the U.S. military has sent about 20 cargo and patrol planes and an aircraft carrier group to assist in relief efforts.

It was not clear which government programs were being tapped for the $350 million in tsunami aid.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said none of the funds were from an $18 billion sum set aside for reconstruction in Iraq, which some lawmakers have identified as a ready source of relief financing.

Duffy said the White House would work with Congress to replenish funding being redirected to relief efforts in southeastern and central Asia. (Additional reporting by Anna Willard)

[Darknight]

New Year begins as world mourns

BBC news

Nations around the world are marking the start of 2005 but celebrations have been restrained amid global mourning for victims of the Asian earthquake.

In Sydney, where the chimes of New Year sounded at 1300 GMT, spectacular fireworks on the famous Harbour Bridge were preceded by a minute's silence.

Festivities were called off in Thailand and Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Parties are due to go ahead in London and Berlin but many European nations will fly flags at half-mast.

At Sydney Harbour, the world-famous fireworks took place hours after an Australian navy ship began a journey from the harbour laden with aid for Indonesia's Aceh province.

'No time to celebrate'

Celebrations were cancelled in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and the country's President, Susilo Yudhoyono, used his annual address to call for national unity in the face of the disaster.

In Paris, black crepe has been hung throughout the city centre

New Year ceremonies were muted across the disaster zone. In Phuket, Thailand, where thousands died, survivors gathered but there was little cheer.

"We are giving everyone free food and drinks but there will be no alcohol. This is definitely not a party or time to celebrate," Thanarat Jadpatananon, a resort owner, told AFP news agency.

The disaster has cast a shadow on New Year's events outside the quake zone:

In Turkey, a country frequently hit by earthquakes, plans to hold a huge party in Istanbul's Taksim square were called off by the city's mayor

In Paris, black mourning crepe was strung throughout the city centre and along the traditional rallying-point of the Champs Elysees

Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany will honour their dead and missing by flying flags at half-mast throughout the night

In London, a two-minute silence will precede a huge fireworks display attended by an expected 150,000 people along the River Thames.

[Darknight]

Hopes fade for missing Europeans

BBC news

At least 6,000 Europeans are still missing - most of them presumed dead - after the Indian Ocean disaster wrecked beach resorts in south-west Thailand.

Sweden estimated 3,500 of its people were missing and said the national death toll could top 1,000.

Germany has more than 1,000 missing, and hundreds of tourists from Italy, Norway, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are also unaccounted for.

The Thai resorts of Khao Lak and Phuket were hardest hit by the giant waves.

Nearly 2,000 foreign tourists died in Khao Lak alone, when luxury hotels full for the Christmas holidays were swamped.

Bodies arriving in temporary mortuaries are often unrecognisable after days lying in the tropical heat.

More than 4,500 bodies have now been recovered in Thailand, almost half of them foreigners.

EUROPEANS DEAD OR MISSING

Sweden: 59 dead, about 3,500 missing

Germany: 34 dead, over 1,000 missing

Britain: 34 dead, unconfirmed number missing

France: 22 dead, 96 missing

Norway: 21 dead, 430 missing

Italy: 14 dead, 700 missing

Finland: 14 dead, 263 missing

Switzerland: 12 dead, 850 missing

Denmark: 7 dead, 419 missing

Austria: 5 dead, up to 100 missing

Russia: 1 dead, 80 missing

Where possible, the bodies of foreign tourists are being stored in refrigerated container lorries, but more temporary mortuaries are needed to house corpses.

Forensic experts will try to identify victims using DNA samples and dental records provided by relatives.

The highest death tolls confirmed by European nations so far are: Sweden (59), Britain (34), Germany (34), France (22) and Norway (21).

The actual death tolls are expected to be much higher.

Sad New Year

New Year's Day will be an official day of mourning in Sweden, Finland and Norway.

Many local authorities throughout the Nordic countries have cancelled New Year celebrations.

European countries have pledged millions of dollars in aid and planes carrying experts and supplies have been flown to the region.

The EU's humanitarian affairs commissioner, Louis Michel, said the EU had reserve funds to help the stricken countries if the 33m euros ($45m) already pledged proved insufficient. He said the EU had an extra 300m euros available in separate emergency funds.

But he stressed that funds would be needed for reconstruction, beyond the current emergency.

Anxious search

On the ground in the disaster zone, many Europeans are still waiting for news of friends and relatives missing since Sunday's waves.

Locals and tourists are looking at the dead to see if their loved ones are there, or examining message boards posted with photos of the dead.

One of the coordinators of the forensic teams in Thailand, policeman Carl Kent from Australia, urged relatives to refrain from visiting the mortuaries, which were in "difficult environments".

"Family members must steel themselves to the fact that this process will take a considerable period of time to resolve," he said.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Phuket says that after the Bali bombing it took five months to identify about 200 victims.

The Danish, Swedish and Norwegian foreign ministries have been sharply criticised by some of their nationals in Thailand, who accuse them of reacting too slowly to the disaster.

The European Union is planning a special meeting of EU aid ministers early next month to co-ordinate relief efforts.

Mr Michel said he would attend a conference of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) in Jakarta next week to gauge the immediate needs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4136871.stm

[els17]

EUROPEANS DEAD OR MISSING

Sweden: 59 dead, about 3,500 missing

Germany: 34 dead, over 1,000 missing

Britain: 34 dead, unconfirmed number missing

France: 22 dead, 96 missing

Norway: 21 dead, 430 missing

Italy: 14 dead, 700 missing

Finland: 14 dead, 263 missing

Switzerland: 12 dead, 850 missing

Denmark: 7 dead, 419 missing

Austria: 5 dead, up to 100 missing

Russia: 1 dead, 80 missing

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would like to add (as heard on local tv news)

Belgium: 6 dead, 127 missing

Big fireworks cancelled in Brussels.

I'd like to thank all of u for the great work in keeping the rest of us informed here.

Great site.

[taxexile]

Tearful hugs as New Year is greeted by candlelight

By Sebastien Berger in Patong

(Filed: 01/01/2005)

Hundreds of foreign tourists saw in the New Year last night in the Phuket resort of Patong, joining their Thai hosts in tearful hugs and spontaneous candle-lighting.

As the stroke of midnight approached, Soi Bangla, the heart of its nightlife district, fell quiet.

Elton John's Candle in the Wind played over loudspeakers and hundreds of Thais and Westerners held up roses and lit candles to remember the souls of the departed.

"This is people all coming together," said Alan Ramsay, a middle-aged Australian, his voice breaking. "It is a very special thing. It shows that people are all human. Everybody is connected."

Describing the event as an expression of "support and hope" he said: "We just have to move on to a new year and to the rest of our lives."

Moments after the song ended, and as the vigil-keepers gathered to place their offerings in sand trays, firecrackers rang out and, within minutes, dance music was once again thumping out of the bar.

Six days ago every shop and bar in Patong seemed wrecked, their contents strewn about the streets and their shells caked with mud, but it was back to almost full business on New Year's Eve.

A veneer of normality was in place, even if celebrations have been cancelled or curtailed across Thailand, where 4,560 people, half of them foreigners, have died and another 6,500 are missing.

The visitors to Thailand's paradise island of Phuket have taken the disaster in different ways.

Lying back on a lounger on Patong beach, Graham Lindsay, a 27-year-old Briton, said: "What I came to do was lie on the beach, basically. I'm just trying to make the most of things on Phuket. It's pretty boring actually. There's not much to do."

Mr Lindsay, who works in IT in Singapore, described staying in a disaster zone as "strange, really strange".

Further down the beach, Keith Sedon, 41, from New Zealand, who was on a three-week trip, said of the tsunami: "I suppose it's disappointing in terms of your holiday. It's a bit of excitement but you can't party as much as you should do.

"But it's not going to spoil my holiday. There's still plenty of beer and plenty of girls."

Piya Isamalai, who owns the Tiger entertainment complex in Patong, said that on the day of the giant waves he gave his staff the day off "to check if their families were dead".

He added: "When they did not have family dead I said `come to work'."

The premises – 30 bars topped with a nightclub – reopened the following day.

With most of the resort's beachfront bars destroyed, the complex is seeing normal customer levels of 3,000 to 4,000 a night, despite the exodus of tourists. "Now it's good," he said. "The customers are happy when everything is open."

Many have, however, abandoned their thoughts of sun and sand to help the injured and those with missing friends or relatives.

Jens Borcharet, who works in intensive care in Essen, Germany, was asleep when the tsunami struck, but when he awoke he went straight to Bangkok Phuket Hospital to help with operations.

"It was horror what happened there, pure horror," he said, exhausted as he began his sixth day of volunteer work.

 

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005. Terms & Conditions of reading.

Commercial information.   Privacy and Cookie Policy.

[taxexile]

................................................that the relatively fragile economies of South-East Asia will not prosper again without tourist pounds, euros and dollars. As we mark a New Year overshadowed by the horrors of the last few days of 2004, it is as well to keep this truth in mind. We urge readers to donate generously to the appeal effort, but also not to exclude the prospect of early visits to beautiful and fascinating countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, not only for their own pleasure, but also for the long-term benefit of local people who have suffered so grievously......................................................................

......................

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005. Terms & Conditions of reading.

Commercial information. Privacy and Cookie Policy.

[linglop]

Many thanks to thaivisa and onethailand sites for assistance in finding two friends who were residing in destroyed impiana hotel, phuket. they are alive but injured and were transported to bangkok for medical attention. they were asleep at the time and have lost everything. Thanks to these two websites run by clever and socially aware people and thanks to bangkok phuket hospital in promptly putting up a list with a search facility.

[onethailand]

You are most welcome. Anything else that can be done for them, please let us know!

Keep up the great work, people...

[cdnvic]

Many thanks to thaivisa and onethailand sites for assistance in finding two friends who were residing in destroyed impiana hotel, phuket. they are alive but injured and were transported to bangkok for medical attention. they were asleep at the time and have lost everything. Thanks to these two websites run by clever and socially aware people and thanks to bangkok phuket hospital in promptly putting up a list with a search facility.

Glad to hear they're all right!!!!

Here's hoping their recovery is swift.

cv

[Darknight]

EUROPEANS DEAD OR MISSING

Sweden: 59 dead, about 3,500 missing

Germany: 34 dead, over 1,000 missing

Britain: 34 dead, unconfirmed number missing

France: 22 dead, 96 missing

Norway: 21 dead, 430 missing

Italy: 14 dead, 700 missing

Finland: 14 dead, 263 missing

Switzerland: 12 dead, 850 missing

Denmark: 7 dead, 419 missing

Austria: 5 dead, up to 100 missing

Russia: 1 dead, 80 missing

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would like to add (as heard on local tv news)

Belgium: 6 dead, 127 missing

Big fireworks cancelled in Brussels.

I'd like to thank all of u for the great work in keeping the rest of us informed here.

Great site.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Els, I'm so cought up in international news , i have not seen the local news here. Gelukkig Nieuwjaar.

[Darknight]

'People flung into the air like confetti'

From BBC News

Stunned survivors are trying to come to terms with catastrophe

Arjuna Seneviratna, a 40-year-old IT consultant from Sri Lanka, lives in the capital Colombo but was staying in Beruwela on the south-western coast when the tsunami wave struck.

He witnessed the tsunami, and told the news and current affairs programme The World about the harrowing experience.

When the first wave came in, we were happy that we were seeing something that was really strange, but it was a very mild wave. Then the sea receded back, and we didn't know what that meant.

It was like someone had pulled the plug on the ocean, and crags and outcroppings of rock inside the sea were visible for the first time in years.

We just watched it, and I was taking photographs of it. Then came this massive wall of water. What did I do? I just sat and watched it. I just watched it and watched it as it came in - it took maybe four seconds from the point when I was aware of it to the point when it hit the hotel.

Those four seconds were like a lifetime. Even if someone runs at you with a knife, you can hit him back, or run away or claim insurance or whatever. This time, there was nothing I could do. I could only watch, and it was coming in, and it hit the crags, and I saw those people on the crags just being flung into the air like confetti, just blown out of the water.

'Life terminating'

Then this thing hit the hotel - I was on the first floor of the building in the restaurant - and it was like a bomb hit it. I saw a part of it just get taken off.

I still kept watching. I don't know why - I think that my mind was so completely numbed by the phenomenon of this, and the power of what was happening. I just stood. I stood my ground, not because I'm Superman, or a superhero, but I didn't know what to think.

Very little was left standing after the wave hit Sri Lankan coastal resorts

And this thing blasted through - I heard windows just bursting, not breaking, but bursting. It's a very special sound. It was like a movie. I just watched the whole thing.

I watched it go - I watched it take so much away. I saw so much life terminating, that I was seriously wondering what was more difficult - whether to live watching death, or just to die.

I really don't know if my life was in danger. There were five hotels that were really hard-hit in Sri Lanka - one of them was the hotel that I was at. I know only one thing: that there is no hotel there now. I do not know how I lived.

I wasn't submerged in water. The problem is not being submerged in water - it's the sheer force of the destruction. I think I was relatively lucky that I was very close to the ocean - that meant that only water hit us.

But if I had been 150m (500 feet) inside the coastline I would have been hit by flying debris, by 250 cars, by brick walls, by reinforcement bars. I would not have drowned, I would have been beaten to death.

The only reason I think I survived was that the walls were relatively strong to withstand the initial impact.

'Surviving the aftermath'

Subsequently, literally, I just walked out in three feet (1m) of water. I had an extremely small cut.

But what is more important is not how you manage to survive a 30-second burst of a wave, it's how you manage to survive what comes afterwards, when you see men looking for their wives, when you see mothers looking for their children and screaming their names, when you see people that you have danced the night before away with, not accounted for.

That is when reality strikes.

The night before, I had been dancing. It was Christmas. We danced into the wee hours of the morning. With everyone, everyone bonded. There were Finns, there were Dutchmen and Dutchwomen, there were Brits, there were Japanese - I actually won a dance competition.

The next morning it was like it was a whole big family of 150 people. And then the next day I am seeing one of those people screaming for their loved ones.

Now, I'm drinking a lot. I do not think it helps because right now, I've got a bottle, and it's not helping me - I'm as lucid as ever, I've been lucid since then, and it really doesn't help. What do you do? What do you do?

It's like 9/11. I was on top of the continental ridge on the Rocky Mountains when 9/11 happened. I saw only one thing. What I saw, was what I heard - silence. You know what that the silence was? The silence was that all the planes had dropped out of the sky - and in America, at any given moment, if you look up into the sky, there are at least 10 planes up there. There's a drone, that nobody really notices, until the drone stops.

My nation is silent right now....