Socratoad
01-09-2005, 02:45 PM
I just recieved this email from a good friend of mine. Its an email home of a relative of hers discribing her experiences during the tsunami.
I have permission to forward or post the following. Just thought you might be interested.
Toad
> Hi
> Thought you might like to read Faye's first e-mail back to the States
> after surviving the tsunami in Thailand.
>
> Gene hasn't returned to work yet but is expected back next Monday.
>
> We are alive and unhurt. We are just happy to be alive. I can't describe
> the devastation we witnessed. We spent the night carrying injured people to a
> triage area for pick up most of the night. I can't describe carrying a moaning person who just saw his girlfriend killed down a hill in the middle of the night. I saw more bodies than I care to report. The hotel where we were staying is mostly gone. We lost everything, but our lives. We were lucky enough to be scuba diving at the moment the wave hit. So we had no idea what was going on. We had j! ust started the dive, and all of a sudden visiblity dropped to almost nothing and we starting getting sucked down, and the dive master was signalling up, up so I started inflating my BCD and we were still dropping, so he grabbed my BCD and we both inflated and headed straight up. Then we still didn't know what happened and we did another dive, but the current was so bad we aborted the third and headed in. As we got close we saw alot of stuff in the water. At first we just thought it was trash, and the divemaster was complaining, why would someone throw all this trash in the water... Then we thought maybe a boat sank... As we got closer to shore we realized that the rooftops we were seeing were no longer all the buildings and were just laying on the beach. The guy we were diving with, his wife had decided to hike to the top of the island and she text messaged him,
> catastrophe..! . Our cabana was completely collapsed. As we came in we could
> see bodies floating out. We tried to grab them so at least the families could
> know what happened. Then we got in and went to our room to see if we could
> get shoes or anything, but everything was gone except a pair of my shorts that
> I found in the rubble (they had been hanging in the bathroom, which was still
> standing). Then we headed to the main area, and since we were unhurt we
> started carrying the wounded down to the area were the emergency choppers
> were coming in. Gene helped free a man who was trapped in the rubble for
> twelve hours, and is going to be OK. I helped carry him back and he was lucid.
> But it was chaos. Everyone was searching for loved one. Around midnight, they
> said no more choppers until morning, so we broke into one of the few remaining
> hotel rooms (third floor of the mai! n building was still standing, though the first floor was gone) and rested until 6 when we went out to help carry more people who couldn't walk in. Finally, once more rescue workers arrived we grapped the first boat out we could. Now we are trying to catch a bus to Bangkok to head to the embassy since we have no passports or plane tickets anymore. Also, we heard cholera is starting to spread and we have alot of cuts and scratches on our feet and legs because we were wearing flip flops and carrying people through rubble and brush. I think we will both need some serious counseling when we return. As some of you may know, my recurring nightmare is a giant wave... It is so much worse than I ever dreamed. I stood on the balcony this morning looking at what yesterday was a pristine beach with some resorts and cabanas, it's rubble as far as the eye can see. Appare! ntly we were right at the center of the tsunami disasster and PHi Phi was hit on both sides, so the entire main area is basically gone. So many missing children. Toys everywhere. It's unbelievable. Gene and I are just grateful we are alive and unhurt. Unfortunately, we had bought everyone
> great Xmas gifts, and they are now somewhere in the Andamen sea along with my
> cell phone and the rest of our stuff. But we are alive and together and unhurt. A
> nice German couple let us shower in their hotel room in Krabi and now we are
> just trying to get back to the States as soon as we can. Please forward this to anyone who may be worried about us. Hotmail is down right now and I am a bit flustered and can't remember all the e-mail addresses I should and may have typed some wrong. Thanks and we will keep you posted. Steve please let the department know that I should be b! ack to start classes next week, but just in case...Faye
>
>
>
> Faye Linda Wachs
> Psychology & Sociology
> Cal Poly Pomona
> 3801 West Temple Avenue
> Pomona, CA 91768
> (909) 869-3903
> Course websites: www.csupomona.edu/~flwachs
I have permission to forward or post the following. Just thought you might be interested.
Toad
> Hi
> Thought you might like to read Faye's first e-mail back to the States
> after surviving the tsunami in Thailand.
>
> Gene hasn't returned to work yet but is expected back next Monday.
>
> We are alive and unhurt. We are just happy to be alive. I can't describe
> the devastation we witnessed. We spent the night carrying injured people to a
> triage area for pick up most of the night. I can't describe carrying a moaning person who just saw his girlfriend killed down a hill in the middle of the night. I saw more bodies than I care to report. The hotel where we were staying is mostly gone. We lost everything, but our lives. We were lucky enough to be scuba diving at the moment the wave hit. So we had no idea what was going on. We had j! ust started the dive, and all of a sudden visiblity dropped to almost nothing and we starting getting sucked down, and the dive master was signalling up, up so I started inflating my BCD and we were still dropping, so he grabbed my BCD and we both inflated and headed straight up. Then we still didn't know what happened and we did another dive, but the current was so bad we aborted the third and headed in. As we got close we saw alot of stuff in the water. At first we just thought it was trash, and the divemaster was complaining, why would someone throw all this trash in the water... Then we thought maybe a boat sank... As we got closer to shore we realized that the rooftops we were seeing were no longer all the buildings and were just laying on the beach. The guy we were diving with, his wife had decided to hike to the top of the island and she text messaged him,
> catastrophe..! . Our cabana was completely collapsed. As we came in we could
> see bodies floating out. We tried to grab them so at least the families could
> know what happened. Then we got in and went to our room to see if we could
> get shoes or anything, but everything was gone except a pair of my shorts that
> I found in the rubble (they had been hanging in the bathroom, which was still
> standing). Then we headed to the main area, and since we were unhurt we
> started carrying the wounded down to the area were the emergency choppers
> were coming in. Gene helped free a man who was trapped in the rubble for
> twelve hours, and is going to be OK. I helped carry him back and he was lucid.
> But it was chaos. Everyone was searching for loved one. Around midnight, they
> said no more choppers until morning, so we broke into one of the few remaining
> hotel rooms (third floor of the mai! n building was still standing, though the first floor was gone) and rested until 6 when we went out to help carry more people who couldn't walk in. Finally, once more rescue workers arrived we grapped the first boat out we could. Now we are trying to catch a bus to Bangkok to head to the embassy since we have no passports or plane tickets anymore. Also, we heard cholera is starting to spread and we have alot of cuts and scratches on our feet and legs because we were wearing flip flops and carrying people through rubble and brush. I think we will both need some serious counseling when we return. As some of you may know, my recurring nightmare is a giant wave... It is so much worse than I ever dreamed. I stood on the balcony this morning looking at what yesterday was a pristine beach with some resorts and cabanas, it's rubble as far as the eye can see. Appare! ntly we were right at the center of the tsunami disasster and PHi Phi was hit on both sides, so the entire main area is basically gone. So many missing children. Toys everywhere. It's unbelievable. Gene and I are just grateful we are alive and unhurt. Unfortunately, we had bought everyone
> great Xmas gifts, and they are now somewhere in the Andamen sea along with my
> cell phone and the rest of our stuff. But we are alive and together and unhurt. A
> nice German couple let us shower in their hotel room in Krabi and now we are
> just trying to get back to the States as soon as we can. Please forward this to anyone who may be worried about us. Hotmail is down right now and I am a bit flustered and can't remember all the e-mail addresses I should and may have typed some wrong. Thanks and we will keep you posted. Steve please let the department know that I should be b! ack to start classes next week, but just in case...Faye
>
>
>
> Faye Linda Wachs
> Psychology & Sociology
> Cal Poly Pomona
> 3801 West Temple Avenue
> Pomona, CA 91768
> (909) 869-3903
> Course websites: www.csupomona.edu/~flwachs