Padraig Colman, in the Sunday Island, 17 December 2013
On 26 December 2011 it will be seven years since 36,000 to 50,000 people (the numbers of dead vary depending on the source) died inSri Lankain the 2004 tsunami. On Christmas Day 2004, we had heard news that our local government veterinarian, whom we knew well, was looking forward to going on a trip toGallewith a party of about 20 people. He and 16 others died. His wife and one child survived because they went back to the hotel for a newspaper. A strange phenomenon was noted in Yala National Park. Few of the animals seemed to have perished because they moved to higher ground before the wave hit. Was this because they sensed the tremors?
A local relief effort that got underway almost immediately is generally agreed to have been a success. Even in the poorest, most remote areas, people flocked to the roadside to hand over money, clothes, bottles of water and bags of rice and lentils.
There are complaints today about militarisation. Seven years ago, 20,000 soldiers were deployed to assist in relief operations and maintain law and order. An effective, spontaneous immediate response was organised locally, followed by the government and international agencies. Temporary shelter for the displaced was provided in schools, other public and religious buildings. Communities and groups cooperated across ethnic and religious differences.
Eye Witness: One month after the tsunami, my wife and I visited Hambantota. We visited again, to take some supplies for the three months dane. Back in 2005, just outside the town of Hambantota, plastic chairs were stranded on the banks above the stained salt in the lagoons of the Lanka Salt Company. Fishing suffered because of fear that fish were contaminated by corpses. Apparently, there was a greater danger of corpses contaminating the salt. Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
