Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Report from Nagapattinam by Rotarian Srinivasa Gobalan
Just back from the visit to the coastal towns of Nagapattinam , Karaikal and surrounding villages affected by Tsunami.
Natural calamities like Earthquake or floods, apart from taking away many lives, leave a fairly large number of wounded survivors, leave debris which takes months to clear and generally cripple the normal life after the calamity for fairly long stretches of time. This is what we have observed in earlier calamities.
Tsunami seems to be different-it just came, killed and created havoc and went back without leaving much trails like other disasters but with a vengeance several fold more.
Nagapattinam town, which is about 2 Km from the shore does not show signs of a disaster that occurred just one Km away towards the sea. And so was Karaikal whose thoroughfare Bharathiyar Road looked normal.
Just cross the Nagapattinam town and go near the shore to Akkaraipettai and you will see what nature has done in its fury.
The official death toll is put at around 12,000 but eyewitnesses say it will be much much more. How much more-no body can guess. Bodies are still being recovered- 7 days after the incident. An effort has started to trace the missing persons and may be in a few weeks, the near correct figure may be known.
(You can skip the following tale of woe, in italics, if you are in a hurry).
One of the eyewitnesses Kannan has this to say:” We friends were sitting in the PWD office and we suddenly found something unusual. The sea was receding and became quiet. In fact, we got up on the compound wall to see what was happening. Within minutes we saw water rising straight-it was spectacular to see a white sheet of water rise to 20 or more feet – looked as if a sheet of glass had emerged from the ground. Waves normally rise up but curve and come down-but not this wave (which we now refer to as Tsunami). This wave which was around 300 or so feet away from the shore moved very fast. We all ran, away from it. My friends ran into a street opposite the building. I tried to start my motor cycle so I could get away faster but water had come so close I abandoned my motor cycle and rushed towards the back of the building-caught hold of a wire and a pipe and reached the terrace. By now water had swept the entire place-the roar was deafening and unimaginable.There I was, standing on top of the building with water on all sides. The building suddenly started shaking as it would in an earthquake-no it was not an earthquake but a boat, weighing roughly 5 metric tonnes or more hitting the building. And in the next 4-5 minutes the water just went back taking away many of friends. Soon, I came down and ran for may be 2 or 3 kms. The friends with whom I was talking a few minutes back were not there any more.” Kannan is still in a shock.
And we have another eyewitness who was roughed up the Tsunami - Rotarian Parameswaran, member of Rotary Club of Nagapattinam who lives very close to the sea.
On the fateful day, he with his 2 daughters and one son and relatives who had come from outstation, was on the beach. The wave came, carried all of them. Parameswaran survived but his children and relatives were lost. To know more, please visit his website http://www.elijakiruba.com/
Several NGOs and Corporates have landed at the disaster sites and relief work is in full swing. Government has deputed several senior Administrative service officers (IAS) and teams have been formed to expedite relief work. Defence personnel are helping in a big way- in fact, a broken bridge connecting Nagapattinam and Karaikal was repaired in a record time.
The victims have been provided shelter at Marriage halls, temples, schools and colleges.
Food, clothing, medical care have been provided in time at many centers.
Municipal workers from all over Tamilnadu have been brought in to search for bodies and clear the debris.
As I write this on Tuesday, 6pm Indian Standard time, Army has started repairing the damaged boats in Nagapattinam and in fact some fishermen have ventured into the sea for fishing.
Rotary Club of Nagapattinam started a relief center on the 26th itself and Rotarians have been working round the clock, ever since. Food, medicines, blankets, groceries, gloves, syringes, masks, disinfectants and a host of other items have been sent by Rotarians from all over the country. In fact, teams of Rotarians from such far off places like Mumbai and Pune landed with relief materials.
International agencies like UNICEF, SALAVATION ARMY, RED CROSS, around 50 Indian NGOs from across the country, corporates like TATA, Sintex Industries Ltd., etc. had all reached Nagapattinam and other centers within one or two days to provide relief material.
Matha Anathamayi Math, a social, educational and religious body, has started community kitchen to feed about 3500 persons with three meals a day. They have also brought a medical team with doctors and Para medical staff and a fully equipped van, helping the Government doctors. As per yesterday’s news, this Math will be spending Rs. 100 Crores ( US $ 20 to 22 m) in rehabilitation work.
Chinmaya Mission has landed with a team of volunteers and doctors. Hope Kolkata Foundation, Salvation Army and a few others are also running community kitchens.
Several psychologists and students in this discipline have landed to provide counseling.
IBM and Anna University have started helping with software for coordination between government and NGOs, finding out missing persons from the data being collected, avoiding duplication of the relief work done by NGOs etc.,
At Nagapattinam collectorate, a meeting of NGOs with authorities is held every evening to study the situation and plan for the next move.
Relief work is nearly coming to a close and efforts to rehabilitate are on. Yesterday, about 15 NGOs formed a consortium to divide the rehabilitation work among them.
One very important message has emerged from the recent calamity- empathy and concern for the suffering of others especially in times of such calamities and distress.
Another important feature to be noted is the attitude of youngsters in serving the needy-more than 100 IT professionals from leading IT companies landed in Nagapattinam and were seen helping in searching for the dead bodies and carrying them when found. Also doing scores of odd things required at the sites unmindful of the inconvenience and discomfort.
Rotary District 2980 has started a relief fund R.I.DISTRICT 2980 TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND-A/c No: 01100090859, Chidambaram.
For transfer of funds from foreign countries, the swift code is State Bank of India-Swift code SBININBB457,Neyveli,India to the credit of R.I.DISTRICT 2980 TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND-A/c No: 01100090859, Chidambaram.
Our Dist.Gov.Ketharnathan has informed that our district will be adopting one village in each of towns affected by Tsunami-Cuddalore, Chidambaram,Sirkazhi,Karaikal and Nagapattinam. We plan to provide fishing nets, repairing the mechanized boats, construction of community halls, provision of drinking water facility etc.,
Do donate generously for this cause.
To look at some photographs, please visit
I have avoided photos of dead bodies and broken buildings. The entanglement of several boats will give you an idea of the severity with which the Tsunami wave hit.
Yours in Rotary
Srinivasa Gobalan.
Natural calamities like Earthquake or floods, apart from taking away many lives, leave a fairly large number of wounded survivors, leave debris which takes months to clear and generally cripple the normal life after the calamity for fairly long stretches of time. This is what we have observed in earlier calamities.
Tsunami seems to be different-it just came, killed and created havoc and went back without leaving much trails like other disasters but with a vengeance several fold more.
Nagapattinam town, which is about 2 Km from the shore does not show signs of a disaster that occurred just one Km away towards the sea. And so was Karaikal whose thoroughfare Bharathiyar Road looked normal.
Just cross the Nagapattinam town and go near the shore to Akkaraipettai and you will see what nature has done in its fury.
The official death toll is put at around 12,000 but eyewitnesses say it will be much much more. How much more-no body can guess. Bodies are still being recovered- 7 days after the incident. An effort has started to trace the missing persons and may be in a few weeks, the near correct figure may be known.
(You can skip the following tale of woe, in italics, if you are in a hurry).
One of the eyewitnesses Kannan has this to say:” We friends were sitting in the PWD office and we suddenly found something unusual. The sea was receding and became quiet. In fact, we got up on the compound wall to see what was happening. Within minutes we saw water rising straight-it was spectacular to see a white sheet of water rise to 20 or more feet – looked as if a sheet of glass had emerged from the ground. Waves normally rise up but curve and come down-but not this wave (which we now refer to as Tsunami). This wave which was around 300 or so feet away from the shore moved very fast. We all ran, away from it. My friends ran into a street opposite the building. I tried to start my motor cycle so I could get away faster but water had come so close I abandoned my motor cycle and rushed towards the back of the building-caught hold of a wire and a pipe and reached the terrace. By now water had swept the entire place-the roar was deafening and unimaginable.There I was, standing on top of the building with water on all sides. The building suddenly started shaking as it would in an earthquake-no it was not an earthquake but a boat, weighing roughly 5 metric tonnes or more hitting the building. And in the next 4-5 minutes the water just went back taking away many of friends. Soon, I came down and ran for may be 2 or 3 kms. The friends with whom I was talking a few minutes back were not there any more.” Kannan is still in a shock.
And we have another eyewitness who was roughed up the Tsunami - Rotarian Parameswaran, member of Rotary Club of Nagapattinam who lives very close to the sea.
On the fateful day, he with his 2 daughters and one son and relatives who had come from outstation, was on the beach. The wave came, carried all of them. Parameswaran survived but his children and relatives were lost. To know more, please visit his website http://www.elijakiruba.com/
Several NGOs and Corporates have landed at the disaster sites and relief work is in full swing. Government has deputed several senior Administrative service officers (IAS) and teams have been formed to expedite relief work. Defence personnel are helping in a big way- in fact, a broken bridge connecting Nagapattinam and Karaikal was repaired in a record time.
The victims have been provided shelter at Marriage halls, temples, schools and colleges.
Food, clothing, medical care have been provided in time at many centers.
Municipal workers from all over Tamilnadu have been brought in to search for bodies and clear the debris.
As I write this on Tuesday, 6pm Indian Standard time, Army has started repairing the damaged boats in Nagapattinam and in fact some fishermen have ventured into the sea for fishing.
Rotary Club of Nagapattinam started a relief center on the 26th itself and Rotarians have been working round the clock, ever since. Food, medicines, blankets, groceries, gloves, syringes, masks, disinfectants and a host of other items have been sent by Rotarians from all over the country. In fact, teams of Rotarians from such far off places like Mumbai and Pune landed with relief materials.
International agencies like UNICEF, SALAVATION ARMY, RED CROSS, around 50 Indian NGOs from across the country, corporates like TATA, Sintex Industries Ltd., etc. had all reached Nagapattinam and other centers within one or two days to provide relief material.
Matha Anathamayi Math, a social, educational and religious body, has started community kitchen to feed about 3500 persons with three meals a day. They have also brought a medical team with doctors and Para medical staff and a fully equipped van, helping the Government doctors. As per yesterday’s news, this Math will be spending Rs. 100 Crores ( US $ 20 to 22 m) in rehabilitation work.
Chinmaya Mission has landed with a team of volunteers and doctors. Hope Kolkata Foundation, Salvation Army and a few others are also running community kitchens.
Several psychologists and students in this discipline have landed to provide counseling.
IBM and Anna University have started helping with software for coordination between government and NGOs, finding out missing persons from the data being collected, avoiding duplication of the relief work done by NGOs etc.,
At Nagapattinam collectorate, a meeting of NGOs with authorities is held every evening to study the situation and plan for the next move.
Relief work is nearly coming to a close and efforts to rehabilitate are on. Yesterday, about 15 NGOs formed a consortium to divide the rehabilitation work among them.
One very important message has emerged from the recent calamity- empathy and concern for the suffering of others especially in times of such calamities and distress.
Another important feature to be noted is the attitude of youngsters in serving the needy-more than 100 IT professionals from leading IT companies landed in Nagapattinam and were seen helping in searching for the dead bodies and carrying them when found. Also doing scores of odd things required at the sites unmindful of the inconvenience and discomfort.
Rotary District 2980 has started a relief fund R.I.DISTRICT 2980 TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND-A/c No: 01100090859, Chidambaram.
For transfer of funds from foreign countries, the swift code is State Bank of India-Swift code SBININBB457,Neyveli,India to the credit of R.I.DISTRICT 2980 TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND-A/c No: 01100090859, Chidambaram.
Our Dist.Gov.Ketharnathan has informed that our district will be adopting one village in each of towns affected by Tsunami-Cuddalore, Chidambaram,Sirkazhi,Karaikal and Nagapattinam. We plan to provide fishing nets, repairing the mechanized boats, construction of community halls, provision of drinking water facility etc.,
Do donate generously for this cause.
To look at some photographs, please visit
I have avoided photos of dead bodies and broken buildings. The entanglement of several boats will give you an idea of the severity with which the Tsunami wave hit.
Yours in Rotary
Srinivasa Gobalan.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
The Relief Work - after the Tsunami
The Relief work
Tsunami hit east coast of India like a bolt of lightning from the blue sky. No one in this region including the NGOs, Government agencies, armed forces, rescue teams, people and professors has ever expected a tsunami will hit their coast.
In most affected villages by about 11 AM on Sunday the 26th December 2004 it was all over. The few survived rushed to main roads, nearby villages and towns and cried for help. The mobile phones were the only means of communication and the local youth gathered in schools, temples, churches and mosques (the community meeting places in the villages). They at once rushed to the affected areas in two wheelers and carried dead and injured to nearby shelters and hospitals.
The government machinery did not start functioning till late in the evening on the tsunami hit Sunday. Even ambulances at government hospitals could not be pressed into service either for want of diesel or permission from higher authorities.
The survived women and children were brought to adhoc relief camps set up in temples, marriage halls. The local social / religious groups started providing immediate food and water to these people.
By Monday morning the government machinery moved with surprise speed. Medical teams and bull dozers were pressed into service. All the affected areas were dusted with disinfectant. Entire population was administered with anti-biotic and vaccines. Drinking water was supplied in tankers, electricity restoration work started in all areas.
Relief material started flowing in from all corners of India. The first to arrive with truck loads of food, clothes, blankets etc were from nearby towns and cities (Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Trichy, Bangalore, Pondicherry etc). The distribution was chaotic. Old and used clothes could be seen discarded on both sides of roads as it was not needed by the affected people. Appeals went out to all not to send old and used clothes.
By this time all media teams from television channels rushed in with their up linking vans. The enormity of the devastation could be seen by Tuesday morning 28th December 2004.
Now the problem of administration is controlling relief material pouring in from all directions. The distribution of these material directly to the affected people or in affected areas started creating problems with the large number of trucks moving in with relief material. The administration stopped these vehicles moving in to affected areas to curtail mob violence.
By the New Year 2005 (Saturday) the administration literally banned inflow of relief material directly to the people. NGOs including Rotary, Lions, Red Cross, Unicef, etc provided the necessary inputs to feed and protect the affected people in various Camps.
Tsunami hit east coast of India like a bolt of lightning from the blue sky. No one in this region including the NGOs, Government agencies, armed forces, rescue teams, people and professors has ever expected a tsunami will hit their coast.
In most affected villages by about 11 AM on Sunday the 26th December 2004 it was all over. The few survived rushed to main roads, nearby villages and towns and cried for help. The mobile phones were the only means of communication and the local youth gathered in schools, temples, churches and mosques (the community meeting places in the villages). They at once rushed to the affected areas in two wheelers and carried dead and injured to nearby shelters and hospitals.
The government machinery did not start functioning till late in the evening on the tsunami hit Sunday. Even ambulances at government hospitals could not be pressed into service either for want of diesel or permission from higher authorities.
The survived women and children were brought to adhoc relief camps set up in temples, marriage halls. The local social / religious groups started providing immediate food and water to these people.
By Monday morning the government machinery moved with surprise speed. Medical teams and bull dozers were pressed into service. All the affected areas were dusted with disinfectant. Entire population was administered with anti-biotic and vaccines. Drinking water was supplied in tankers, electricity restoration work started in all areas.
Relief material started flowing in from all corners of India. The first to arrive with truck loads of food, clothes, blankets etc were from nearby towns and cities (Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Trichy, Bangalore, Pondicherry etc). The distribution was chaotic. Old and used clothes could be seen discarded on both sides of roads as it was not needed by the affected people. Appeals went out to all not to send old and used clothes.
By this time all media teams from television channels rushed in with their up linking vans. The enormity of the devastation could be seen by Tuesday morning 28th December 2004.
Now the problem of administration is controlling relief material pouring in from all directions. The distribution of these material directly to the affected people or in affected areas started creating problems with the large number of trucks moving in with relief material. The administration stopped these vehicles moving in to affected areas to curtail mob violence.
By the New Year 2005 (Saturday) the administration literally banned inflow of relief material directly to the people. NGOs including Rotary, Lions, Red Cross, Unicef, etc provided the necessary inputs to feed and protect the affected people in various Camps.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Houses Awaited Tsunami Disaster in India
We were glued to television watching the enormity of damage caused by this tsunami.
No tsunami has hit India in the recent memory. Nobody including the government agencies is trained to handle such devastation. Many lives were lost as the rescue mechanisms were not in place.
The villages I visited north of Pondicherry had all the houses up to 300 metres from the seafront washed away. The death toll in these villages was minimum as the villagers ran away on seeing rising waters. At a village Pudukkuppam near Pondicherry University, I saw water level marks on the walls of houses up to 4 feet high. These houses were located 400 metres from the shoreline.
The survived villagers pointed out the sea has risen about 15 – 25 feet on the seafront and the entire stretch of the beach was covered with rushing water and waves. The force of the tsunami was so great that all the houses were smashed and washed away, steel almariahs(cupboards) were crushed like paper bags, television sets crushed to pieces, boats tossed as far away as 500 metre, fish nets sucked away by receding waters, all belongings of the fishermen including their identity cards (ration cards), whatever savings and children school books and notebooks. Fishermen of these villages keep all their belongings including cash, jewellery, documents etc in their homes only. They lost all their belongings along with their houses.
Most of the people who lived on the beaches in huts and small houses were washed away. Since it happened on a Sunday morning children were at home or playing on the beaches lost their lives along with their parents, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. All the houses destroyed have been built within 200 metres from the shoreline and they were situated within 100 metres from high-tide line.
All the affected villages on the coastline were densely populated. These villages expanded over the last 50 years in all directions including eastwards on the beachfront. Entire families worked in the fishing trade, men ventured in to the sea to catch fish, women and children worked on the beaches drying fish, cleaning and mending the fish nets. Women mostly sell the fish in nearby towns and villages.
The village Nallavadu, I visited is densely populated with 165 families and 1300+ population occupying the total area of about 3.75 acres of land. This is a strange village, which is surrounded by the Pondicherry territory on all three sides and the sea on the east side. There is not even a square metre of land, which is not used up, in this tiny hamlet. The people had no choice but to expand their village eastwards on the seafront. All the houses on the beach were washed away by the tsunami. Luckily no one died in this village.
The fishermen have been granted pattas by local governments over the years for the plots and houses constructed in these villages. Pucca buildings were constructed under various schemes at these villages by government agencies. The fishermen built new houses unauthorizedly on the coastline. According to THE ENVIRONMENT (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986 (as amended up to 3rd October 2001) Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), the CRZIII “The area up to 200 metres from the High Tide Line is to be earmarked as ‘No Development Zone’. No construction shall be permitted within this zone. It further says Construction/reconstruction of dwelling units between 200 and 500 metres of the High TideLine permitted so long it is within the ambit of traditional rights and customary uses such as existing fishing villages and gaothans. Building permission for such construction/reconstruction will be subject to the conditions that the total number of dwelling units shall not be more than twice the number of existing units; total covered area on all floors shall not exceed 33 percent of the plot size; the overall height of construction shall not exceed 9 metres and construction shall not be more than 2 floors ground floor plus one floor.”
But none of these regulations were implemented and the huts on the coastline were not regulated. The 200-500 metre limit if implemented without any violation would have saved many lives. But villages and houses up to 1km from the shoreline were effected by the recent Tsunami is only a pointer to the highest safety and precaution needed to be built in to the regulations depending on the topography of the villages and their location near sea and back waters near the sea.
This shows all rules were broken in building houses on the beaches. Fishermen villages at Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Nagapattinam are densely populated and their houses were situated literally on the high tide line on the beaches. This has resulted in heavy death toll. The government should strictly apply the CRZIII guidelines while reconstructing the houses damaged and relocate these villagers safely beyond the 500 metre limit and continue to monitor no one moves with unauthorized dwellings near the high tide line in the years ahead.
No tsunami has hit India in the recent memory. Nobody including the government agencies is trained to handle such devastation. Many lives were lost as the rescue mechanisms were not in place.
The villages I visited north of Pondicherry had all the houses up to 300 metres from the seafront washed away. The death toll in these villages was minimum as the villagers ran away on seeing rising waters. At a village Pudukkuppam near Pondicherry University, I saw water level marks on the walls of houses up to 4 feet high. These houses were located 400 metres from the shoreline.
The survived villagers pointed out the sea has risen about 15 – 25 feet on the seafront and the entire stretch of the beach was covered with rushing water and waves. The force of the tsunami was so great that all the houses were smashed and washed away, steel almariahs(cupboards) were crushed like paper bags, television sets crushed to pieces, boats tossed as far away as 500 metre, fish nets sucked away by receding waters, all belongings of the fishermen including their identity cards (ration cards), whatever savings and children school books and notebooks. Fishermen of these villages keep all their belongings including cash, jewellery, documents etc in their homes only. They lost all their belongings along with their houses.
Most of the people who lived on the beaches in huts and small houses were washed away. Since it happened on a Sunday morning children were at home or playing on the beaches lost their lives along with their parents, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. All the houses destroyed have been built within 200 metres from the shoreline and they were situated within 100 metres from high-tide line.
All the affected villages on the coastline were densely populated. These villages expanded over the last 50 years in all directions including eastwards on the beachfront. Entire families worked in the fishing trade, men ventured in to the sea to catch fish, women and children worked on the beaches drying fish, cleaning and mending the fish nets. Women mostly sell the fish in nearby towns and villages.
The village Nallavadu, I visited is densely populated with 165 families and 1300+ population occupying the total area of about 3.75 acres of land. This is a strange village, which is surrounded by the Pondicherry territory on all three sides and the sea on the east side. There is not even a square metre of land, which is not used up, in this tiny hamlet. The people had no choice but to expand their village eastwards on the seafront. All the houses on the beach were washed away by the tsunami. Luckily no one died in this village.
The fishermen have been granted pattas by local governments over the years for the plots and houses constructed in these villages. Pucca buildings were constructed under various schemes at these villages by government agencies. The fishermen built new houses unauthorizedly on the coastline. According to THE ENVIRONMENT (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986 (as amended up to 3rd October 2001) Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), the CRZIII “The area up to 200 metres from the High Tide Line is to be earmarked as ‘No Development Zone’. No construction shall be permitted within this zone. It further says Construction/reconstruction of dwelling units between 200 and 500 metres of the High TideLine permitted so long it is within the ambit of traditional rights and customary uses such as existing fishing villages and gaothans. Building permission for such construction/reconstruction will be subject to the conditions that the total number of dwelling units shall not be more than twice the number of existing units; total covered area on all floors shall not exceed 33 percent of the plot size; the overall height of construction shall not exceed 9 metres and construction shall not be more than 2 floors ground floor plus one floor.”
But none of these regulations were implemented and the huts on the coastline were not regulated. The 200-500 metre limit if implemented without any violation would have saved many lives. But villages and houses up to 1km from the shoreline were effected by the recent Tsunami is only a pointer to the highest safety and precaution needed to be built in to the regulations depending on the topography of the villages and their location near sea and back waters near the sea.
This shows all rules were broken in building houses on the beaches. Fishermen villages at Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Nagapattinam are densely populated and their houses were situated literally on the high tide line on the beaches. This has resulted in heavy death toll. The government should strictly apply the CRZIII guidelines while reconstructing the houses damaged and relocate these villagers safely beyond the 500 metre limit and continue to monitor no one moves with unauthorized dwellings near the high tide line in the years ahead.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
On a Sunday Morning
On 26th December, 2004 Sunday Morning, I was at Sri Aurobindo Ashram which is 100 meters from the sea front. The time was 10.30 AM. Everything was normal. After my visit to the ashram, I came out and took my motorcylce and reached the nearby exhibition venue where we were conducting a computer exhibition. Here I could see everyone rushing towards sea front, there was confustion among the people riding bicycles and motor cycles on the roads. One of my fellow exhibitor asked me "Did you see the sea rising? It seems sea water has entered many areas in Muthialpet" I immediately called my friend Sathish and we rushed to the sea-front near the Chief Secretrait. The water was splashing on the walls and gushing on to the road. The crowd was growing. We left the scene immediately. The time was about 11.30 AM. Nobody knew till then it was Tsunami. We started getting calls on our mobiles from friends who were at home and they flashed the news about sea rising in Chennai etc.
As this is the first time a tsunami has hit this part of the country, nobody knew how to react. Many lost their lives as they rushed to the seafront to witness the new phenomena. There was no warning, no rescue efforts, no blocking of people rushing towards seafronts and beaches. The enormity of the destruction was not realised by any of us till late in the evening. All government agencies were caught unaware and they were not trained and equipped for this situtation as this is the first time ever that a tsunami has hit this part of country.
As this is the first time a tsunami has hit this part of the country, nobody knew how to react. Many lost their lives as they rushed to the seafront to witness the new phenomena. There was no warning, no rescue efforts, no blocking of people rushing towards seafronts and beaches. The enormity of the destruction was not realised by any of us till late in the evening. All government agencies were caught unaware and they were not trained and equipped for this situtation as this is the first time ever that a tsunami has hit this part of country.
