The 2004 Tsunami - 10 years.

[radiobox]

Yesterday marked the 10th year of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia.
It left more than 2 lakh people dead.

My thoughts ...

Still remember that day.
I had actually slept through the earthquake and woke up much later.
When I heard the news on radio, I decided to take a tour of the city. I was told the entire area near the coast had been cordoned off. So no chance of getting anywhere near. It was a first for many of us. There were angry mobs of displaced people, shouting at those who were travelling by "expensive" cars. Quite Scary if your were the driver. I was on public transport and got away.

Many prominent persons had a lucky/narrow escape.
The many that were taking their early morning stroll by the beach, probably never had a chance.

Even after a month, there were regular tremors. Then slowly thing went back to normal.

Places like the Andamans were totally ravaged. The coastline had changed. One now popular "tourist spot" is an area of tree stubs.

Help and aid poured in, in all forms. Some foreigners even settled here as aid workers and have continued to help people out.
Carla Brown was one such person. Even after 10 years it is believed, not all have received the assistance that was due to them. Bad co-ordination has been blamed for this.

Links:
Wiki
Books

[srijantje]

forget about bad co-ordination
corruption is far more likely

[Spud17]

I remember that day like it was yesterday, and it's truly amazing how a global event like the boxing day tsunami affected people around the world at a local level.

When the news broke over here, and subsequent reports got drastically worse, something happened. Common sense, empathy, humility, something woke people up, and one by one, people took action to help out all they could.

I witnessed elderly neighbours cancelling boxing day celebrations to spend the day making cakes/cupcakes which they then sold and gave the money to various charities to help out the survivors. Children wrapped their christmas presents back up and expressed a desire to share them with those who had nothing. Community centres, shops, pretty much everywhere started a collection or collection point to raise money to help those affected, and those who were still stranded.

It made people think about the way they donate, and who they donate to, with many losing faith in the large government-sponsored charities and choosing instead to help those who were taking direct aid to the countries involved, themselves, much like the aid/peace convoys you see that travel to Gaza, or Bosnia in the 90s.

I agree with sj, I think corruption was a major obstacle to help in many areas, but thankfully, people still gave.