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Run, run, another tsunami’s coming
By Marisa de Silva & Mahangu Weerasinghe
On Monday night, much of Sri Lanka went to sleep unaware of the tremors taking place near northern Sumatra. Woken up by friends or relatives who had been watching foreign news channels, most people in turn phoned friends and family living near the coast to alert them.

And so we sat and waited, watching for any sign that another dreaded tsunami was on its way. Along the coasts, the scenes were of fearful, frenzied activity. K. Somawathie, 67, living in a displaced camp near Siyambalagahawatta, Mahamodara had been alerted around 11 p.m. that night by others in the camp that another tsunami was coming. "I gathered up my things and ran up the hill," recalled Somawathie. In the darkness, she had sprained her ankle. "It was pitch black, and the only path was through the jungle and up the hill," she said.

People like Somawathie live with the fear of another tsunami. "We run like this a few times every month. I lost my husband in the tsunami and now live in this tent with my son," she said. Chinthaka Kumara, 23, said he heard about the tsunami threat from van drivers at a nearby tourist hotel. "The foreigners at the hotel had told the van drivers and they told us around 11 p.m. We went and stayed atop a hill until around 4 a.m.," he said.

Some people in this camp had heard the news on the radio and alerted everyone. They hurriedly gathered their children together and fled towards safety. The police had arrived about 45 minutes later. By then most of the camp had been deserted, they said.

"We haven't slept properly since Monday night because we stayed up all night in fear," said C.M. Premadasa, one of the many anxious residents of the camp just outside Galle. He appears to be living in constant dread at the prospect of another disaster. Their fears are fuelled by the fact that the camp is close to the sea.

Galle's Headquarters Inspector W.K.R. Wegapitiya, explaining how the evacuation process was carried out on receipt of the news of a tsunami threat, said they had immediately contacted the mobile units and asked them to warn the people of the possibility of another tsunami and evacuate them.

Announcements were made over a public address system asking people along the coast to move to higher ground. Most had moved to nearby temples and churches to seek refuge, Inspector Wegapitiya said.

Three days after the December 26 tsunami, about 225 police officers from the Kurunegala, Ratnapura and Vavuniya districts were sent to the Galle police station. This has enabled the Galle Police to deploy officers on a 24-hour watch along the coast, the Inspector said.

Near Kamburugama in Matara, residents have begun to build houses just outside the 100-metre demarcation zone. Asked if they had been told how to react in the case of a tsunami warning, they say they have not been told anything, but "generally we go to places which we think are safe”. On Monday night, the official warning came well after they had moved to safe places.

For 48-year-old Amitha Daulgoda, the warning of another tsunami came from a neighbour who had seen it on TV. She said she and her six children fled to a nearby two-storey house. Others had taken refuge in temples.

The women and children of the area had gone to safety while the men stayed behind to keep watch over their temporary houses. "Because we were having the three-month alms-giving of my eight-year-old niece, we had borrowed many cooking utensils and some furniture from relatives," said Amitha.

"So we couldn't leave the house unattended since even at times like this there are heartless people who will loot," she said. The men had said they would stay and could climb a tree if another tsunami came.

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