Stories from Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Ignesious’s Story
Ignesious was completely unaware of the morning of 26th December, sleeping peacefully when his wife woke him up at 6 am, after she felt an earthquake. As a precautionary measure, he removed the television set from the table and placed it on the ground, in order to save it from falling off the table. then, the entire family rushed out of their house. However, as the tremors of the earthquake stopped, they were shocked to see the sea levels rising. They were utterly confused, not knowing what was happening. In this confusion, they started to run in a chaotic fashion. Half of his family members ran in one direction and the others ran in opposite direction. he never saw his wife, her father, brother and his two children ever again. Perhaps they were swept away and were now dead. Luckily, his three children that accompanied him were saved.
The Story of Sanjeev and Meghna
Sanjeev was a policeman in the Katchall island of the Nicobar group of islands. he managed to save himself, his wige and his baby daughter from the waves. however, after he jumped into the sea, hearing the Guesthouse cook, John’s wife screaming, he failed to save either the cook’s wife or himself. Both of them got drowned in the gush of waves. Meghna along with her parents and seventy seven other people was swept away by the wave. However, she kept floating in the sea for two days. For two days, she held on to a wooden door, which kept her afloat and saved her. During these two days, several times she saw the rescue helicopters, but they couldn’t see her. Later she was brought to the shore by another very strong wave. Meghna was just thirteen when she had to go through the pain of having lost her parents.
Almas Javed’s Story
Ten year old, Almas Javed, had lost both her parents as well as her grandfather. On that had last morning, Almas’s father saw the sea water moving back than it’s usual point. He was sure that the water would come back with greater force. he woke everyone up and tried to rush out the family, to a safe place, but it was too late by then. In an attempt to save to grandfather, Almas’s father too, was swept away by the waves. Almas fainted at the sight of this great loss. She was later rescued and then taken to a hospital in Kamorta and then to Port Blair, but she continues to be in a traumatic condition and refuses to talk about the incident. Almas’s mother and aunts climbed to the leaves of a coconut tree, but the waves uprooted the entire tree.
Stories From Thailand
Tilly Smith and her Heroic Acts
Tilly smith, a British school girl, saved many lives at a beach resort in Southern Thailand, where she had gone to celebrate Christmas with her family. Tilly Smith on seeing the condition of the sea was reminded of her geography lesson in which the geography teacher had shown the students a video of the tsunami that had struck Hawaiian island in 1946. Tilly was sure that the rising levels of the sea, the formation of the foam, the bubbles and the whirlpool were all symptomatic of the tsunami, as shown in the video.
Tilly began screaming and asked her family to leave the beach. the other tourists on the beach did the same. Nobody, except Tilly, knew what was happening. they were just alarmed by Tilly’s reactions and did as she advised. They took refuge in the topmost floor, the third floor of the building and were saved. Had they stayed on the beach, they would have been swept away by the waves.
The Animals and their Sixth Sense
It was strangely observed that a little before the waves struck the coasts of India and Sri Lanka, the animals had some kind of intution and were reacting strangely. The dogs refused to step outdoors, the flamingoes refused to come down to low-lying breeding areas and other zoo animals too rushed to their shelters. it is believed that perhaps animals could feel the vibrations of the Earth their acute hearing powers saved them from this massive earthquake under the sea.
The proof of this is that the giant waves killed more than 50000 people across countries, but hardly any animals were reported dead. Examples- Along India’s Cuddalore coast, thousands of people died, but buffaloes, goats and dogs remained unharmed. The Yala National Park and the Patanangala beach in Sri Lanka sixty visitors were swept away by the waves, but no animal carcasses were found. It is very strange because the Yala National Park is home to a variety of animals and more than 30 species of birds.