Tsunamis Disaster

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

The waves hit after 7 in the morning, you just know there had to be surfers out on some of those reefs in the Maldives, plus even though this is not the prime season for waves, those charter surf boats operate year round. I am positive some of them didnt make it. In the news besides the death toll on the shore, many boats in the shallow costal areas were sunk by the waves as high as 10 meters.


My heartfelt condolences to all the people that lost their lives today and too the survivors give them them the strength to rebuild their lives.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/

[slap a dap]

..........this is an unreal story!! A friend of mine went to Sri Lanka for the holiday break and I haven't been able to get into contact with him. I hope he survived!

..........can you imagine what they were all thinking when these waves appeared?

[Haoleboy]

One of my best friends is over there as well. We're all really worried.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

..........can you imagine what they were all thinking when these waves appeared?

Tourist Ernst Mollemans, on the last day of his vacation and taking a boat trip from one island to another south of Phuket, narrowly escaped death or serious injury when he heard the driver scream and then abruptly turn the boat toward a small beach to their left.

"We wondered why he was doing that, so we turned around and saw this big wave, about three meters, we all started to scream go go go" Mollemans said.

"When the boat hit the beach, we jumped out and ran up the beach. We were lucky it went up hill, it was rather steep. And we turned around and we saw the boat crushed."

[slap a dap]

................DAMN PR that story is nuts! Just trying to place myself in that situation. I think we are going to here some crazy stories in the weeks to come. I wonder how widespread these waves were also?

[LGREANZ]

scary, looks like the earth cracked right near the mentawais.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

Check out this story, just put yourself in his shoes. Hanging onto a telephone pole for dear life while waves are crashing past you.


American who survived tsunami tells of devastation
Regular guest on 'Oprah' safe, but friend missing in Sri Lanka
Sunday, December 26, 2004 Posted: 8:41 PM EST (0141 GMT)


(CNN) -- A celebrity interior decorator vacationing in Sri Lanka said Monday that all he could see was "utter devastation" in the wake of a deadly tsunami that slammed the island.

"We were completely devastated yesterday morning," Nate Berkus told CNN. "There was absolutely no warning."

Berkus, a regular contributor to "The Oprah Winfrey Show," said he and a friend were sleeping in a beachfront cottage at Arugam Bay on Sri Lanka's eastern coast when he heard a loud noise and the roof was ripped off.

Berkus, 33, said they were swept into the sea along with debris, animals and other people.

The two grabbed a telephone pole, he said, but lost their grips when a second large wave hit. Berkus told CNN that he climbed onto the roof of a home; his friend was missing.

Berkus said he and about 50 other survivors -- tourists and locals -- spent the rest of the night in a field, but were without water and food. Many of the group were injured, including a pregnant woman who had broken ribs, he said.

Members of the Sri Lankan army had taken a few of the injured away in helicopters, he said, and told the rest of the group that other helicopters would arrive at sunrise.

"It's just been utter devastation. Bodies everywhere," Berkus said. "I'm very scraped up, but luckily I'm OK ... against that kind of force of nature, there was nothing any of us could do."

Berkus said that lost everything he had with him.

"I'm sitting here with nothing -- no passport, no money, no anything, in shorts that somebody gave me ... the bottom line is, we desperately need help here."

[Rich]

UNBELIEVABLE! My condolonces to all that were lost and hopes for the best of those who weren't.

[slap a dap]

...........Aragum bay is where my friend is/was. Still no word.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

The waves reached all the way across the Indian Ocean to Africa, I just read that hundreds of fishermen and people living in costal villages are missing in Somalia.

I also found this little clip in a cnn story.

India and Pakistan also sent equipment to the Maldives, according to the country's high commissioner, Hassan Sobir. He told CNN that communication had been re-established with the northernmost of the widely scattered islands south of India -- most rising barely 5 feet above sea level -- but the southern islands remained "out of reach."

"The entire Maldives, I think, for a moment disappeared from the planet Earth," he said. "Some islands may have completely disappeared forever, we don't know yet. But all the islands have definately been affected."


Death toll has already passed 23,000 I believe it will top out somewhere in the high 30's There are still large sections of coast that havent even had communications established. In all the countries affected. And islands that normally are in contact, no word has been heard from them.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

This is from http://www.Baliwaves.com

The Original BaliSurfReport since 1999



Bali: 27th / December / 2004

BALI UP-DATE: THE TIDAL WAVE DID NOT AFFECT BALI, NO DAMAGE OR INCIDENTS. THE ISLAND OF NIAS AND A LARGE AREA OF NORTHERN SUMATRA IN INDONESIA WERE DEVASTED BY THE WAVE. WORST AFFECTED WAS THE ISLAND OF SRI-LANKA, THAILAND AND INDIA. THE TRADGEDY TOOK PLACE QUITE A LONG WAY AWAY FROM BALI. The vacationers here on Bali at present don't seem to be too worried about the Hilton Hotel warnings either, from your ordinary surfers, to pensioners and families in between it's holidays as usual. For further news and up-dates on the TIDAL WAVE stay tuned to your local news stations. We will return with more Bali/Indo surf info very very shortly, so stay tuned here for that ok.

[Bud]

the tragedy is mind boggling, I'm speechless. cannot fathom the loss of life, all the innocent children. as a father my heart aches at the sadness

[LGREANZ]

i always wonder when and where ?
at least this was a natural disaster.
I can't believe that there is no tsunami warning center in the Indian Ocean when they having earthquakes occuring in that region daily.
I hope the boat trips were over for the season, imagine being on a surf trip and gettin steam rolled by a 50 foot set, while sitting on the boat enjoying the morning.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

Omg they are reporting the initial death toll can possibly reach 70,000 and the final total can be over 100,000 with disease.

I just got done watching a news program, and they were showing amatuer videos shot by tourists from the different countries affected.

In one video from Phuket, Thailand you can see one wave breaking where only minutes earlier it was dry sand of the hotel property and even though the video is being shot from what seems to be about the 6 to 8th floor and from 200 feet away appears to have an aprox. 15 to 18 foot face as it broke into the coconut trees along the shore. And the ensuing white water wall rushing inland looks to be about 8 feet tall.

The amazing thing about this one video is the wave I saw which was breaking about 50ft off what had been the shore and still in the clear blue water had what would considered to be be a very good left breaking tube until the wave closed out as it broke along the shore line . And of course the surfer in me comes out cause it looked really good. Does that make me bad to even think that in this tradgedy? I then wonder to myself what would I have done? If I would have been swimming when the water receeded out to the waves and then the waves started to rush in would I have had the mind to work my way thru the ocean waves as a surfer? Or would if I had been on the beach would I be the surfer in awe checking out the incoming waves and not realize I should be running for my life?

Seems to me after watching many of the videos that the safest places to be if you were caught in the tsunami would to be already in the ocean swimming out the further out the better, us being surfers especially the ones with big wave experience, or being in a hotel on the beach and having the presence of mind to head to the upper floors (given that the hotel doesnt collapse). To me the worst place to be is the streets directly behind the first buildings along the oceans edge because then the water isnt a wave anymore but instead it has the characteristics of a flash flood as it gets channeled between buildings, down alleys and streets with tons of debris.

[lgreenz]

Megaprober , wheres your input on this subject ?

what happen to all the islands down there, Mentawais, Maldives, Adaman Islands. Are they gone ? These islands rest only 3 feet above sealevel and have almost zero mountainous terrain, just palm trees.

What happen to these islands and all the villagers/islanders/indians that live there. The northern region of Sumatra was said to be hit the hardest, and the Mentawais area located about 120 miles off the coast of western sumatra the wave had to radiate outwards and affect them.
No info on these areas I think because of the remotness and difficluty to reach those areas.

I read in the Sydeny Journal that all the surf charters are done for the season and there were no charter vessels in the vicinity.