2nd January 2005
Here’s my story and an appeal for help. I’m sure you will pass it on to the lads and to anyone else you think can help. I am going back to Akkaraipattu on Wednesday to start helping with the clean up operations. In the mean time it’s pouring hard there and many of the refugee camps are flooded. As if these people haven’t suffered enough.
On Christmas Eve together with a work colleague, I went to Aragum Bay which is a small resort on the south eastern coast of Sri Lanka about 1 hour from were we live for a few days Christmas break. At 9.10am on Boxing Day morning we were caught in the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka with such devastating effect. I was taking a shower when I heard the most tremendous noise (which I realized afterwards was the sound of fishing boats from the beach crashing into the guesthouse), people were screaming and shouting and water started to rush into the room. I grabbed a towel, ran outside and saw the massive wave that was approaching. Fishing boats, fridges, furniture and debris from the fishermen’s shacks were flying around everywhere and I was almost submerged but managed to reach a boat that was miraculously still floating at the same time as my colleague Nazza.
Just nearby was a van that had been traveling along the road when caught by the water and was filling fast and about to be turned over by the water rushing in it. We were able to help the family out through the windows and into the boat and climbed in ourselves. One of the local fishermen had also climbed into the boat and managed to keep hold to a tree so we weren’t thrown into buildings or other obstacles. Then as fast as it came in, the water started to recede and people, boats, trees and debris were swept back into the ocean but our fisherman managed to hold on until the water had gone. Amazingly I still had my towel and was able to avoid upsetting the locals too much by my otherwise naked state. Astonishingly, the sea had retreated some 600/700 meters from the original shoreline exposing the seabed and people, thinking it was all over, were going back to the beach area to salvage whatever they could and to look for their families. But it wasn’t over and out in the ocean a new wave was forming and starting to break some 2 kilometers from shore. This time we could see what was happening and was able to run to higher ground.
There were 6 or 7 waves in total arriving at about 5/7 minute intervals. Fortunately, the 1st wasn’t the biggest otherwise more people would have died. The largest was in fact the 6th and just about finished off any structures still standing. Together with the villagers and about 50 tourists we spent the rest of the day and that night on high ground. Many had suffered severe injuries and apart from a holidaying Danish nurse no medical help was available although a local detachment of the Special Task Force (Sri Lanka commandos) brought in some medical supplies like bandages and painkillers. People were wandering up and down looking for loved ones and friends and there was some joy as people were reunited and much anguish as the next body brought in was recognized as a dead husband, wife or child. It was heartbreaking to see how many of the dead were children.
To get to Aragum Bay you have to cross a lagoon by a bridge that had been washed away so there was no way out by road. But on Monday morning a helicopter from the Sri Lanka Air Force arrived and started taking out the injured then families and finally people like me. Before we left, the family that we had helped from the van turned up to say thanks for helping. They had no need to do that of course but I was very moved that they had taken the trouble to find us. Looking back now it’s hard to understand how I survived with just a few scratches and so many others died or were badly injured. Had I been a further 30 seconds in my room I would not have got out. Had the wave taken us one-way and not the other, we would not have got to the boat. Had our fisherman not been so strong we would have been swept out to sea. And so it goes on, all these little things added together that enabled us to survive. Nazza and I have lost friends.
A German girl I know was on the back of my motorbike on Christmas Day when we went to see the crocodiles in the lagoon. On Boxing Day she was dead and her partner in despair that he hadn’t been able to save her. Almost everyone we work with has suffered deaths in their families. You have seen the pictures on your televisions and believe me; in the coastal villages the devastation is massive. We can do nothing for the dead. But we can help the survivors. In the wave I lost my motorbike, my mobile, my glasses and everything else I had with me at the time. But I’m in a position to replace those things. As in all these tragedies it is the poor that suffer the most. In Akkaraipattu where I live and other villages in Ampara District, it is the poor living in palm thatch shacks that have suffered the deaths and totally lost the little they had before. We can help the survivors but we need cash and that is why Nazza and I are appealing to our friends in Italy and UK for help. As an example of the situation, I include an extract from an e-mail appeal written by Jaufar who is one of our work colleagues. He sums it up very well.
I am forwarding this request letter on behalf of the earthquake-affected people of my village of Maruthamunai situated in the eastern coastal belt of Sri Lanka consisting of nearly 20,000 people. On 26th December at 8.35am an earthquake hits the entire village and seawater submerged entire village for 2 hours. It has brought untold hardships to the community. So far 1000 dead bodies are recovered only from my village and I have lost nearly 20 family members. More than 15,000 people are evacuated and kept at many refugee camps in and around the area. People need food and clothes immediately. And now its rain started and shelter for them is a severe problem. Since this earth quake hits all over the island, government machines are not in a position to support the people well.
Jaufar wrote that the day after the wave. As of today, 2734 bodies have been recovered in his village.
The situation now in Ampara District. The area where we work has been the most affected by the tsunami. The tolls are around 9000 bodies recovered so far in Ampara District. Some 180,000 people have had to be relocated to schools, temples, mosques and refugee camps. All the villages along the coastline, including the few roads, have been devastated. In an email to day Jaufar writes: Food and clothes are immediate needs that has been addressed to some extent with the help of local communities. Within another couple of weeks time people will need more supports for the reconstruction of their shelters. As I understand the situation, this huge task has to be started by the government. This process will take decades for government. So what I require from the philanthropists is to assist our area people for a short term solution.
HE IS RIGHT!!! And I can add the level of devastation is beyond any imagination. So I am asking all of you to send whatever you can in financial support that myself, Nazza and Jaufar can use to buy basic items that people will need within two/three weeks to shelter their families and start up again. We will put the money to use in the Ampara District, the most affected area. I work there, and the humanitarian organizations we work with have outstanding reputations. They will let Nazza and me directly administer any money you send. Nazza and I are the 1st donors to this appeal and as you read this a consignment of milk powder, water purification tablets and blankets are on their way to our village. We will personally make sure that every penny we receive goes directly to those in need that have been hit by this disaster. Remember that over here, 1 pound can buy locally 10 pounds worth of goods so even small amounts can make a real difference. Please forward this appeal to friends, business colleagues, clubs, associations etc. that you think can help. It would probably be a good idea to include an introduction from yourself saying that you know me, that the appeal is genuine and not a scam (what a sad thing to have to say but that’s the times we live in).
Thanks for your help, John Ramsey
Details of how to give were included in John’s report but they may now be out of date so are not included here