2004 tsunami: A tourist professional eyewitness recalls

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Tsunami1
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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Ten thousand people today are remembering the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, in travel and tourism regions like Phuket, Thailand, or Sri Lanka.

Ten thousand people today are remembering the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, in travel and tourism regions like Phuket, Thailand, or Sri Lanka.

The 2004 tsunami, an undersea megathrust earthquake, severely hit Indonesia after which Sri Lanka suffered the most. It also lashed out in India, Thailand, Somalia, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Kenya.

“Ten years down the line, even the thought of that tsunami can still give me goosebumps today,โ€ says a survivor from Sri Lanka, Devinda Kariyawasam, Manager of Groups, Travco Dubai, in an interview with the Khaleej Times.

The most devastating tsunami in modern times, it was more than a natural phenomenon. To many it led to a loss of family, land, livelihood and everything they ever worked for. To some it was a vacation that didnโ€™t need a return ticket. But to those who survived it, it meant a ray of new hope.

Devinda back then was working with a travel firm in Colombo. He had a group of about 60 tourists who were put up at hotels near the beach.

Talking about his experience, Devinda recalls, โ€œIt was Boxing Day in 2004 and I was with a few friends when I received a call from my boss who was on the beach, telling me something wasnโ€™t right. The water had gotten too dark, and he just had the presence of mind that everyone from the hotel had to be evacuated.

It was just a day after Christmas and the hotels were packed. Before the first wave hit, he managed to clear the 80-room hotel of its 200 guests. Unfortunately the laundry man who was in the basement didnโ€™t make it out.โ€

After that call from his boss, Devinda says he rushed to the scene. There was no way to contact the tourists and he had to get there immediately. To the sound of the word Tsunami, he says, โ€œThe word Tsunami didnโ€™t even exist to us. We never heard of it, but it sounded frightening.โ€

By the time he reached he says, โ€œIt looked like a warzone. There were a lot of bodies lying everywhere, people crying and hospitals were full.โ€

None of his guests were affected. They were later found in churches, temples, and some even on the road, thanks to their passport copies.

โ€œWe hired a bus to take our guests from the south to the evacuation centres in Colombo. Along the way we had people begging and crying to come along with us. We managed to take in as many people as we could and both the buses were packed. It was an experience.โ€

He narrates why he thinks many people fell to their fate. โ€œBefore the big waves hit, the sea receded to a great distance. At this time, many locals were curious and went to see the new land. Many also started claiming some parts of it to be their property. You canโ€™t blame them; none of us had ever encountered or heard of something like that.โ€

After that Devinda and his partners started an NGO called Reconstruire et Vivre. They have helped rehabilitate about 100 families in the villages around. While some of the work is still in progress, he says, โ€œSri Lanka has come a long way.โ€

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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