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Tusnami leaves legacy of crushing ruin
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-09 22:33
Editor's note: This report is dedicated to five journalists
covering the disaster for their homeland newspapers in five countries struck
by the Christmas tsunamis. Each has written exclusively for China
Daily .
by Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post/Indonesia
JAKARTA: There is this shout that still keeps ringing in my ears: "Run! The
water's coming!"
Sunday morning began hotter than usual -- the sun was really bright at just
7:50 am. At home I was enjoying coffee and reading the local daily Serambi
Indonesia. Sunday is when young people head for Ulee Lhee beach, only five
kilometers from the town. After swimming they would usually have a picnic on the
beach with food brought from home.
Suddenly my newspaper shook in my hands, and the shaking became increasingly
stronger. I ran out of the house with my two younger siblings -- along with my
neighbours. We cried to God. The quake got stronger and we clutched one another.
Water in the gutters shook and spilled over.
A victim's body is trapped in the
debris from the devastating tsunamis Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005, on the
coastal area of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province in northwest
Indonesia. [AP] |
The shouts grew louder amid
the sound of a tree cracking, ready to crash.
Neighbours hugged one another, some crying. This lasted for several minutes.
It left cracked walls and pale faces. No one went into their homes. We live
about six kilometers from the beach.
Half an hour later another quake occurred and everyone was hysterical, though
it was of a lesser strength. I felt very worried. Quakes are common in Aceh, but
not like this.
I wanted to see the situation outside -- and shortly after passed thousands
of people shrieking in panic.
'The water is coming!'
People were moving in all sorts of vehicles heading out of town.
Everyone was carrying a bundle of clothing or rice. Screams from adults and
crying infants filled the air.
I rushed home; there were other, lesser tremors and we remained outside.
I ventured out at 11 am.The whole town, every corner, was in devastating
ruin. I learnt later of the wave, the tsunami that must have hit the entire town
of Banda Aceh, because there was no water left -- just black, knee-high mud.
In the Lamteumen district near the beach, all homes had been crushed by the
wall of water.
There were several bodies lodged between planks of wood inside the houses.
Only then did I realize this was really serious. There were more and more
bodies, likely killed in the wave, not the earthquake.
Further away in the nearby area of Peuniti, hundreds of corpses were lined up
along the road near the Krueng Aceh river.
It was all chaos
It was chaos. Everyone was in a state of panic. Aceh's capital had
been entirely destroyed, with dozens of bodies lying around the front of Baitur
Rahman mosque, the town's landmark and the pride of its townspeople.
Fishing boats had suddenly emerged, stranded in the middle of the town
brought in by the wave -- while dozens of vehicles were wrecked.
In just a few minutes thousands had lost their families. This must be what
Judgment Day looks like, with hysterical screams and thousands of people looking
for their loved ones.
I was absolutely sure that these bodies included the youth who would have
been playing by the beach. Fishermen, residents living up to at least two
kilometers away from the coast, passengers of speedboats heading for the tourist
destination of Weh island. All dead. I shivered at the scene.
One survivor said the wall of water coming out of the sea toward him reached
up to 25 meters. He said he hugged a pillar of his house. The rest of it was
gobbled up by the wave.
He still has his wife, but lost his grandmother.
Another local had escaped with his family in a car, only to get trapped in
the giant wave. He lost his wife and two children.
Back home, we spent the night in the dark, in the terror of more tremors and
the waves.
More tremors, waves
Once every hour a tremor reoccurred and we ran outside.
The rest has been told. Until now we are always listening, always on the
alert.
For we fear we may not save ourselves if we don't hear the signals that we
must watch out for.
Nani left Banda Aceh "to seek solace," she told a friend, and then headed for
Medan in North Sumatra. Before she tried to track down her media colleagues,
asking everyone who knew them, and sent news of who was missing, who was safe
and who had lost relatives.
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