Tsunami

First of all, may God give the victims of tsunami strength to put their lives back together. This a tragedy of monumental magnitude. It is beyond belief how all of a sudden the lives of millions could be so utterly devastated in a few minutes!

Since author has dragged Bin Laden into his essay, its worth pointing out that the day tsunami struck, 127 Iraqis died throughout Iraq - adding to the 120,000 who have died so far in this state sponsored terroristic massacre supported by author.

Every single life is a precious life. It was so heart felt to see millions of people across the globe join hands and oppose the massacre of Iraqis. And it is so heart warming to see humanity coming together and doing their best to help out the victims of tsunami.

Despite its murderous streak, my faith in humanity is anew. We may fight each other in ``good times`` but we all come together when tragedy occurs regardless of national, religious and political leanings. It maybe a naive thought, but its a beautiful thought.

Ferozk - thank you for a beautiful post.

Ferozk #13 It is indeed human nature to soon forget about such tragedies and to move on. What we as individuals can do, though, is to not forget the LESSONS of such tragic events which of course is that life on earth has a fragile existence. The political issues that seem so important to us when reading the daily newspapers, do not amount to a hill of beans - to use the expression made famous by the movie “Casablanca” ;-)

rsridhar #15 Good to hear from you. I am sorry to learn of the personal tragedies that occurred in your father`s neighborhood, and trust that your loved ones are safe. As for Sinhalese stopping aid to Tamil areas in sri lanka, that is indeed incredibly bloody-minded on the part of the individuals who did it - I am certain the average Sinhalese would, like any normal human being, be sufficiently appalled by this tragedy to put aside any bitternesses and hatreds.

I do recall listening in the news about how there has been an unofficial ceasefire in civil wars that were being fought in both sri lanka and in aceh (indonesia). Surely, only a totally mad individual would think of carrying out a civil war in the face of such a terrible tragedy (i understand a quarter of the population of aceh has been killed - and i saw videos of the sea flowing into aceh that seem to be a vision of a watery hell).

Raka #16 Indeed, even a few hours notice, plus some previous disaster response planning, would have no doubt saved most of these lives. But emergency planning is not high on the list of items in third world countries - even simple, cost-less measures like putting on seat belts (which hang uselessly on the side) are laughed off as a form of western softness in Pakistan as I recall. And yet, thousands of lives would be saved in Pakistan each year if people wore seat belts (even if it is only in cars equipped with such seat belts to begin with).

The longer term dangers of disease are indeed also present and many people think could cause as much deaths as the tsunami itself. Flood water is so dangerous that there is a saying among emergency responders in the US that in case of floods you ``run from the water`` (since flood water comes loaded with bacteria) and in case of hurricanes and tornadoes you ``hide from the wind``. Something to remember if one is ever stuck in such a situation, heaven forbid.

nasah #20 Agreed that Oxfam and other large charities are good bets to donate money to. Disagree on your condemnation of the west for not doing enough. The responsibility for emergency preparedness rests first and foremost with the individuals and governments concerned. In case of Thailand, the government is supposed to have explicitly decided not to send out a tsunami alert after the initial tremors were felt since they did not wish to scare away the thousands of western tourists who were there at the height of the tourist season over christmas. Ultimately, one has to recognize that this region did not experience tsunamis in recorded memory and so the complacency is to some extent understadable.

It is the broader complacency over emergency preparedness in countries like Pakistan that I mention in my post to Raka that we need to be concerned with.

While India`s enemies continue with their mock show of sympathy and empathy at the sight of destruction caused by the tsunami on their beloved neighbours , it would no doubt irritate them that the wreckage was not as severe as it could potentially have been. Yesterday , frontline Pakistani newspapers - daily times and perhaps dawn - carried mischievous frontpage reports exulting over an apparent `extensive` damage to the nuclear power plant at Kalpakkam , Tamil Nadu....filled with orgasmic ecstasy as they were at the thought of a nuclear catastrophe striking out the hated Indians.....

But sadly for them , their optimism was misplaced. The reactor has been found to be safe and functional. The plant however has been closed temporarily as the workers and their families were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Work is said to begin in a couple of days.

tahmed #24:

gargantuan and deadly as the tsunami was...i must confess the inspiration or the catalyst was your article

rgds

t

Hey Tauheed,

Thanks for the article. Did it really rise upto 60 feet!!! Read up on your comment re: replacement of man. Correct me if I`m wrong but I believe it was something about God replacing one nation with another more worthy nation and then that new nation`s actions being considered as to whether it deserves being in existence etc etc etc.

I agree with your sentiments re: Bin Laden but I don`t think he`s the right man to quote. Really, none of us associate with him. It would be more appropriate for us to quote the state sponsored terrorism by our democracies and the 100,000+ Iraqi deaths - a common number shared between the two disasters - because I am British, you are American, and we have both contributed a little towards propagating that artificial disaster with our ignorance.

But you`re right, our selfishness and preoccupation with our lives can lead us to forget the bigger picture.

Guys, OXFAM is an excellent organisation. These guys have 60 years of experience behind them. They work in 70 countires. For every Pound, Dollar, Rupee you donate, 85-89% of it will go directly into the actual work. Also, the organisation prides itself on providing simple, commonsense solutions to big problems.

An upcoming example of the tsunami problem would be dirty water, cholera, diarrhoea and access to clean water. Oxgam`s solution to the entire complex problem would be a giant tub of water! Big, made of sterile material and capped at the top, its a painfully simple solution to a real problem and something like 20-25 Pounds could provide about 5000 people with clean water!

Just google for their website.

Thanks again, Tauheed.
Umer M.

#16 raka

for most tsunamis, all it takes is a few minutes notice to get to a higher ground. hawaii has sirens on its beaches. cost of the equipment is not that big, its the manning it with scientist thats somewhat costly. based on historical evidence, such event would be rare in that part of the world, but then the scientist will always do something with the data.

MQMPower: While I am not a fan of MQM in light of their past record of fanning ethnic divisions in Pakistan, I do salute your worthy efforts at fund raising at this time. We in Pakistan were fortunate to have been spared the wrath of this storm, and should do what we can to help. I understand a PAF C-130 was sent to sri lanka quite soon after the disaster struck.

tahmed32:
A drastic change from the stance of the ``The Poetry of Physics.``
Your sentiments about the tsunami tragedy are commendable. I wish humanity could find the needed equilibrium. The following comes to mind; define God in any which way hereunder.
``God, give me the courage to change what I can, the humility to accept what I can not, and the wisdom to see the difference.``
Let us hope the nationalities come together to assuage the hurt to the biosphere. If they do that and subsume the ``petty`` differences humans will have another proof of the divine - define this in any which way - light in them.

Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres). They have been focusing on some of the areas most devastated by the 9.2 earthquake, like Sumatra, where the island actually moved 100 feet, destroying virtually every structure on it.

Their website is swamped, but you can call 1-888-392-0392 to make a contribution.

May god give the victims and their kins the strength to recover from the loss of their loved ones.

Here`s another link for donations.
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/29tsunami.htm

As per some western expert, the quake at the epicenter had power of a million atom bombs and it made the earth wobble on its axis.

re: this disaster
when disaster of this magnitude strikes, it leaves everyone in a daze. For the past 2 days, i have been spending my time glued to TV and internet, trying to figure out how and why all this happened.
Against nature`s fury, man has no control. I heard horror stories of kids playing cricket by the side of Marina Beach (Madras) washed away, of one gentleman in my father`s neighbourhood who was taking his daily ritual walk by the beach and never returned. I saw heart-rending pictures of cries of anguish from fishermen near the seacoast whose family members and breadearners were washed away by Tsunami.
Science has a long way to go before it can control nature. This is very clear from this tragedy.
I would urge those who are donating for the cause to do so to well known international agencies (like the Red cross, CARE etc) rather than to individual NGOs in their respective countries. The reason is: only these international agencies have the means to deliver aid in time.
I respect Tahmed`s sentiments in this article. But then, it is difficult to change people`s mindset so easily. Sinhalese in Srilanka were obstructing aid to Tamil dominated areas during this tragedy. Talk about narrow mindedness!
Sridhar

re: this disaster
when disaster of this magnitude strikes, it leaves everyone in a daze. For the past 2 days, i have been spending my time glued to TV and internet, trying to figure out how and why all this happened.
Against nature`s fury, man has no control. I heard horror stories of kids playing cricket by the side of Marina Beach (Madras) washed away, of one gentleman in my father`s neighbourhood who was taking his daily ritual walk by the beach and never returned. I saw heart-rending pictures of cries of anguish from fishermen near the seacoast whose family members and breadearners were washed away by Tsunami.
Science has a long way to go before it can control nature. This is very clear from this tragedy.
I would urge those who are donating for the cause to do so to well known international agencies (like the Red cross, CARE etc) rather than to individual NGOs in their respective countries. The reason is: only these international agencies have the means to deliver aid in time.
I respect Tahmed`s sentiments in this article. But then, it is difficult to change people`s mindset so easily. Some Sinhalese in Srilanka were obstructing aid to Tamil dominated areas during this tragedy. Talk about narrow mindedness!
Sridhar

The aftermath of Tsunami is even going to be worse with diseases like cholera Hepatitis and Typhoid on the rise due to no drinking water or contaminated one. Dehydration and matnutrition and other problems will arise for the survivors.

Correct me if I am wrong but I heard that the water ,though engulfed all the coastal areas ,but it came upto only 300 yards or so on the ground and also there was a time of 2.5 hrs when it struck first and later reached the other countries.

if thats the case , rapid evacuations , clearing the coastal areas could have saved lots of lives. why wasnt the information emergently shared ?