INDEPTH: DISASTER IN ASIA
Survivors' stories
CBC News Online | January 7, 2005
Laura and Jeremy Rowley are Canadians who are living in Japan for the year. They were in Ko Lanta, Thailand, when the tsunami hit Southeast Asia. They saw the tsunami as it hit the island. Jeremy, has written about the day as he experienced it. They were encouraged by family members to send our story in.
"Our hearts go out to the many people who lost their lives or livelihoods as a result of this disaster. As foreigners, we have homes and family to return to. There are many people who live in these countries who have nowhere else to go. Below is our story."
Boxing Day, Dec. 26, about 8:10 a.m. (all times may be a little muddled)
We woke up to the sound of scared chickens clucking and running around. Those who grew up on a farm will know what that sounds like, you others will just have to trust me – they were scared. Animals seem to be able to predict natural disasters.
We woke up and began to plan our day. We talked about the fact that we hadn't contacted our family for Christmas – it was still Christmas in Canada and the U.S. – and we planned to go and e-mail them. Laura was in the bathroom and I was sitting on the edge of the bed.
I thought I felt a tremor, but very mildly, so I set my water bottle down and asked Laura if she felt anything. We both watched the water in the bottle shaking a little and just waited to see if it would get any larger. The tremor lasted for about a minute, we think, but it didn't seem too bad, (considering the ones we had experienced in Japan in the past). Then we got dressed and headed down to the main building that had a restaurant, internet and satellite TV.
9 a.m.
We got to the internet and spent some time reading the Christmas e-mails we got from people, as well as sending messages and trying to set up an e-mail conference time with my family. I wanted to talk with them about the fact that my uncle had just died, and to extend my love to my mom, as well as spend some Christmas time together as a family. The earthquake never qualified as something that needed mentioning in our minds.
9:45 a.m.
We sat down at our table and ordered breakfast. I also asked about borrowing the Frisbee and the snorkels. Our full intention was to spend the day on the beach, snorkeling, playing Frisbee, reading and sunbathing. We also planned to go down to a place we found on the beach that made good coffee. We had started to make friends with the owners. We continued to chat and relax and enjoy the early morning hubbub of the resort instead of heading down to the beach.
10:10 a.m.
Laura exclaimed, "Look at the ocean!" or something to that effect. I looked up and said, "It's a tidal wave," because I remembered the tremors earlier. The Thai people ran around, telling everyone they had never seen anything like this. I tried to explain what was happening but to no avail.
10:12 a.m.
The first wave hit, people on the beach ran toward us. There was damage. The river that we were beside began to fill up and overflow; it was like a whitewater river with fridges and pieces of chairs, tables, etc. I saw the cooler from the coffee shop floating toward us.
Then the river began to switch direction again, and flow back into the ocean. People began to get curious and run, ride motorbikes, etc., down to the beach. We started to go cautiously down to the beach to check it out. A second small wave hit, flooding the river, slower this time. The river overflowed again, we ran up the road again; the water reached our knees and stayed at that level. Laura lost her sandal.
We ask for our passports out of the resort safe. There is mass chaos, reports are already coming in of deaths. The staff are trying to figure out what's going on. They can't seem to find the key to the safe, but we want to have our passports with us in case anything happens.
Laura was going to go to the bungalow to get some stuff, but we didn't want to be apart during this time. We realized that our possessions were only that – possessions. It was our lives that were important. After what seems to be forever, they give us our passports. We debate whether we should get our stuff out of our bungalow or just leave. We decide to leave.
Boxing Day morning. Time is irrelevant at this point.
The third wave hits while the water was still up; it smashes with more violence and the river continues to rise. We run. I keep outrunning Laura then turning back to her and yelling for her to go faster. I can see what's behind her and it fills me with fear. I run back and give her my hand, I also give her my sandals because her feet hurt.
We cross a small bridge and reach the road. We still don't feel safe. A young boy of about five or six years is trembling and crying, I hold his shoulder and he seems to calm down a little. He then disappears into the crowd, maybe some Thai person has taken him. His is a face I can see in my mind, that I can help. We jump in a taxi that heads up to a mountain resort.
We get to higher ground and walk to the highest point we can after buying some water. We couldn't care less about our stuff. We have our passports and our plane tickets.
Boxing Day - afternoon
We are high up the mountains with 200 - 300 people. All the shady spots are taken. Rumours float around like debris in the ocean: "There was a volcano," "There will be a bigger wave at 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. etc..."
We find a quiet place to sit and read, we talk and prepare for the worst, we pray, we talk to other people. At about 5 p.m. reality starts to float to the surface. People are dead, our bungalow may be gone. Do our families know? "God please let our families know that we are safe." We decide to go down to find out what is true and watch the news.
5 p.m.
We get to a restaurant at the bottom of the hill. We order food, we talk to others, we begin to breathe and are horrified to realize the extent of the damage. We were watching the BBC news and realized that the extent of the damage was great if the BBC had pre-empted everything to show this.
We also realized that things were pretty bad because there was no news from Indonesia, the closest place to the actual earthquake. We have seen photos of damage done to Kobe after the earthquake here, which in comparison was much milder. At the same time we learn from others that our bungalows are still there.
We see an International phone and call my sister and ask her to tell others that we are safe. They still didn't know that the tsunami had hit. We decide to go back to the bungalows and see if our stuff is still there.
6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
We are glad to see all the staff are still there. We watch the news, we enjoy every breath, we hug others, we live.
We go to our bungalow and pack our stuff (if you know us, you can imagine our stuff not packed before this). Just in case, we decide to stay there seeing it is available and the water never reached it. We sit through the evening and eat, drink and chat. Everybody is a friend.
We sleep that night, but fitfully; there is a rumour that a big wave will hit at 3 a.m.
December 27, 2:30 a.m.
We wake up. We cannot sleep. (There was also a rat trying to build a nest in our ceiling.) We go to hang out with the staff and watch the news at the restaurant. The world is responding but nothing can stop the death toll from rising, seeing that right now the numbers only count the dead people that have been found.
We use a big light to see if the water is rising. The wave action is louder, the ocean seems restless. We are afraid. At about 4 a.m. we head back to the bungalow and try to sleep.
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