Tsunami Catastrophe

Posted by Michael on December 27th, 2004 filed in Serious Stuff

Coming back after the Christmas holidays, I’ve shocked by the news from Asia, where a tsunami has killed thousands - 22,000 at the last estimate I’ve seen. A huge, catastrophic number.

Some of the pictures are personal - I vacationed once in Phuket, Thailand when my mom and sister came to visit me in Singapore. This is what Phuket looked like when I was there in 1999:

Phuket Thailand (before)

And this is what it looks like today:

Phuket Thailand (after)

The tsunami traveled at close to 500 mph; when it found the shallow beaches of Phuket, the wave slowed down and grew in height to perhaps as high as 30′. Anything under 2 stories tall would have been slammed by this wall of water, including people and tourists just walking the streets. They would have received no warning; a bright, blue sky day, then a wall of water.

If you’d like to help, you can donate to the American Red Cross International Response Fund at 1-800-HELP-NOW, or secure online payments at www.redcross.org.

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3 Responses to “Tsunami Catastrophe”

Uptown Girl Says:
December 29th, 2004 at 7:07 pm
With the death toll fast approaching one hundred thousand I can’t even begin to grasp that and can’t find words for all the horror this is
Michael Says:
December 30th, 2004 at 8:36 am
The enormity of the situation continues to grow. Bumped to 40,000 dead, then 70,000 dead, then 100,000 dead…

This morning estimated were raised to 120,000 dead after surveying Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where 28,000 bodies not previously counted were discovered.

Pray. Donate.
Uptown Girl Says:
December 30th, 2004 at 12:49 pm
it is so so so horrific