Salinye Posted December 27, 2004 Report Posted December 27, 2004 I can't believe how horrible this is! This being an international community, is everyone and everyone's loved ones alright? ~Salinye
Zariah Posted December 27, 2004 Report Posted December 27, 2004 It's really really sad. Not to mention the fact that there is reported over 22,000 deaths, but there is sickness from contaminated water, and tens of thousands of people homeless.... If you pray, please pray for these victims.
Gryphon Posted December 27, 2004 Report Posted December 27, 2004 Forgive me, but I'm about to reveal that I've had my head in the sand... or clouds actually... lately and admit that I've actually got no clue what tsunami you're talking about.
Salinye Posted December 27, 2004 Author Report Posted December 27, 2004 There was a 9 point earthquake in the Indian Ocean that sent tidal waves in two directions hitting I think 9 different countries. Some of the countries like Thailand line the coast with resorts, restaurants, stores etc. Very touristy areas and a major holiday for tourists. Some of the poorer countries like Somalia had entire villages wiped off the map. The death toll is approaching 23,000 and rising and the number homeless is in the millions. The U.N. is not equipped to deal with disaster this wide scale are are simply trying to focus on the countries least likely to help themselves. Red Cross and other humanitarian aids are helping as well as military from different countries. Even Pakistan has sent aid to India and they aren't examples of two countries that get along, so I thought that was good. Unfortunately the Indian ocean historically has so few tsunamis that they don't have the same sort of warning systems in place that other oceans do. Bouys that if are raised a certain height set off an alarm. I know Australia, Japan and the US have these sorts of systems. If they had had a system like that, the Asia side of the tsunami's would have had up to a 2 hour warning. The other side (Can't remember the name of the island atm) was only 150 miles off of the epicenter, so there probably wasn't too much time considering they say those waves travel up to 500 mph. I think the thing that was so crazy is that although some places got hit with the dreaded 20 foot high wall of water and what not, some places the tidal wave was only 5 feet high. But that's all it took. It was like the ocean raised five feet and just swept in and didn't stop. It had such force behind it that grown men could not hold on to things because the force was too powerful. Five feet of water, that's all it takes. The power of nature is incredible. You can read the details on this natural disaster at: http://www.ap.org/ ~Salinye
X-Sabre Posted December 27, 2004 Report Posted December 27, 2004 Unfortunately from what I heard, a lot of the people killed were tourists, at least in certain areas. It's a shame. But, that's one reason I stay inland..
reverie Posted December 28, 2004 Report Posted December 28, 2004 Well thankfully most of my Relatives in Thailand live in Bangkok... so they were spared the brunt of it. I heard on CNN that the king's grandson was among one of the many who died... Nature doesn't descriminate... I think the epicenter was in Sumatra... rev...
Rhapsody Posted December 28, 2004 Report Posted December 28, 2004 I'm praying for everyone in SE Asia. And I'm requesting that everyone here prays for my family in Burma. Electricity is a problem there even under normal circumstances, so we can't even dream of contacting them in these emergencies. *Rhaps*
Gryphon Posted December 28, 2004 Report Posted December 28, 2004 Gotcha... thanks for helping me out of my clouds Sal', that is pretty damn horrific. It's strange that living in Auckland, New Zealand as I do I've never really thought of tsunami as a danger despite being not that far above sea level. Probably this lack of thought is contributed to by the fact that the island we live on is part of the "Ring of Fire" - a circle of still active volcanos and if they go boom then the tsunami's produced will be the least of our problems. Ring of Fire But getting back to the point, eep. That's bad bad stuff. I daresay that those in my country who have not been living in ignorance like myself will be sending some support. I hope everyone's families are safe.
lumpenproletariat Posted December 29, 2004 Report Posted December 29, 2004 I have a friend who was journeying about the phillipines/thailand/cambodia these holidays for us (dec-jan-feb), haven't heard word from him yet, but hoping for the best
dragonqueen Posted December 29, 2004 Report Posted December 29, 2004 I hope everyone's loved ones are safe. My prayers for all affected.
Zariah Posted December 29, 2004 Report Posted December 29, 2004 (edited) The new death count is over 80,000. Edited December 29, 2004 by Zariah
Zariah Posted December 29, 2004 Report Posted December 29, 2004 The newest news on this, currently at Eastern time 2:50
Salinye Posted December 29, 2004 Author Report Posted December 29, 2004 I know that none of us have a lot of money, but now and in the coming months, anything you can donate to the Redcross, even if it is 5$ will help. There are people dying because they can't get clean drinking water to them fast enough. In some areas all drinking water has been contaminated. So, if anyone has the means to donate even the smallest amount, it all adds up. ~Salinye
Venefyxatu Posted December 30, 2004 Report Posted December 30, 2004 This does make one think on the might of nature... and how tiny we humans are compared to all this. On a positive note : it is good to see that humans are still willing to help each other out in between having meetings, wars and petty squabbles over power. A question : I believe I have heard it mentioned that India refused help? I overheard just a little of that conversation and might've misunderstood (which is what I'm really hoping), but does anyone know more about this?
Lady Celes Crusader Posted December 30, 2004 Report Posted December 30, 2004 I was stunned when I've heard about it Sunday and the rabid ray they found dead people frightens me. I hope that no one lost loved one in this disaster.
Appy Posted December 30, 2004 Report Posted December 30, 2004 Me and RedBaron will be spending of course.. I'm wishes for the small wonders and miracles now, since it seems that that's all that's left to hope for... Scary how the deathcount raises by the hour
Salinye Posted December 31, 2004 Author Report Posted December 31, 2004 India had not refused help. It's actually amazing to me that the first to help India was Pakistan. That's almost as amazing as it would be if Palestine stepped up to help Israel sometime. Death toll at 116,000 now. Donations and prayers are appreciated! ~Salinye
Appy Posted December 31, 2004 Report Posted December 31, 2004 in germany, the deathcount named as confirmed, is 130k... and no doubt that that's not the end of it...
Salinye Posted December 31, 2004 Author Report Posted December 31, 2004 Here is a link to a neat site that shows spy sattelite images of some of the coastlines hit before and after. It's amazing. Really makes you step back and remember the power of nature. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6770108/?GT1=5936 ~Salinye
Gryphon Posted January 3, 2005 Report Posted January 3, 2005 Obviously some parts of the world are affected more by this than others, but it's good to see that most places are offering their support. The other day I noticed a stall selling goods, all proceeds to the Tsunami relief. On another sadder note, I don't know how many of you all come from places that lost people to this tragic occurance, but I'd like to let at least this small corner of the world know that it has been confirmed that there were some people from New Zealand lost to the tsunami. Most sad was that two of those lost were a young married couple who'd just arrived on their honeymoon. Apparantly they'd just finished sending a message home that they had arrived safely and were visiting the beach to look at the beautiful view. (Sad as this is - I find myself wondering at the potential irony of that particular situation)
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