Tsunami still a nightmare for many

Exactly six years ago, on Sunday, December 26, 2004, nature unleashed its fury on our island nation – the gigantic waves of a tsunami struck our shores, in minutes killing thousands and causing widespread destruction.

When the waves receded, taking uncountable numbers out to sea, they left in their wake thousands of corpses on the shore and in coastal towns and villages, and thousands of wrecked homes. The colossal tragedy affected countries around the Indian Ocean and other lands in the Far East, including Thailand and Indonesia. Sri Lanka was among the worst-hit countries. It was one of history’s worst natural tragedies.

Ambalangoda was one of the worst hit coastal towns when the tsunami struck.

It is estimated that in Sri Lanka the tsunami killed around 39,000 people and displaced another 500,000, while about 5,000 went missing that day. Memories of the tsunami still haunt survivors and those who witnessed the catastrophe. Since December 2004, those who live by the sea and depend on the sea for a living view the ocean with different eyes. That day, the sea turned an angry face on the world and took away loved ones, while leaving others bereft and homeless.

Jayasiri Kumarasinghe and his family, residents of the coastal town of Ambalangoda, were among the survivors. Mr. Kumarasinghe recalled the events of that fateful Sunday, six years ago, and the miraculous escape of his son Visal, who was an 18-month infant at the time, and who was presumed dead.

“The first wave hit our house by the sea a little after nine in the morning, and when it receded, the sea dried up,” Mr. Kumarasinghe told the Sunday Times. “I walked out onto the sand of the empty sea bed, going out as far as I could, as this was a most unusual experience, something we don’t see every day.”
When he realised that the water was returning, in more huge waves, he turned back and ran home as fast as he could.

“By the time I reached my home, the huge wave was a few feet away. I shouted to my wife and two children and told them to get inside and lock the doors and windows. “Sea water was coming in through the gaps under the doors and around the windows. We were terrified. I picked up the two older children and my wife carried the youngest. I broke a hole in the ceiling and put the three children up there, hoping they would be safe.”

Mr. Jayasinghe’s wife Indika said the sofa she was standing on started to float. Then the doors gave in, and the water rushed into the house. “I gave Visal, who was 18 months at the time, to my husband and told him to put him too inside the ceiling. He took him under his arm. I saw Visal’s head going up and down in the water. I lost my balance and fell off the sofa and into the water. Even under water, I was thinking about the little one. Then my eldest child fell off the ceiling. I tried to grab him, but he slipped out of my grasp. I could see him being swirled around in the water.”

Visal still worries about killer waves.

Mr. Jayasinghe said he grabbed his eldest son and put him back on the ceiling, and then he tried to reached out for Visal. “When I grabbed him, his head had slumped. I thought he was dead. I dropped him back in the water and climbed up to the ceiling. A window broke and I saw the body of my child being swept away.”

Around 40 minutes after tsunami hit, a relative found Visal stuck in a kekatiya tree. “We assumed Visal was dead, but we were grateful that his body had been found. We did not think of rushing to hospital, because we knew the hospitals were filled with victims.

“Later, at about 3.30 in the afternoon, we took Visal to a private doctor, who said the child was not dead but unconscious. “Late that night, at about 2.00 am, little Visal regained consciousness. Our nightmare was over.”

Visal Sankalpa, who is a Grade Three student of Devananda Vidyalaya, Ambalangoda, seems to remember the horror of that Sunday many years ago. Whenever he goes out for a walk with his parents, he wants to know whether another tsunami will strike and take him away. “He keeps staring at the sea, looking out big waves.”

“We have not gone for sea bath ever since the tsunami,” Indika said.

Temple ‘safer’ than home for Thera

Fifteen-year-old Buddhist novice monk Rathgama Sujatha Thera says he feels safer living in the temple than back in his own home, where he was with the rest of his family when the tsunami struck. He was with his mother, grandmother, sister and younger brother. Sujatha Thera, who was then N. H. Nadushanka, was nine years old at the time. Of the family members, only Nadushanka and his father survived.

Rathgama Sujatha Thera

“We all ran when the waves came,” he recalled. “I climbed on to a tipper, but the waves were so strong it got knocked over, and fell on my grandmother. I was swept away and got stuck in a tree.”

Nadushanka was taken to the nearby temple and given first aid and then admitted to the Karapitiya Hospital. Doctors had to operate on one of his eyes to remove sand. His father, a fisherman, was away from home at the time of the tsunami, and when he returned he found only Nadushan left out of his family.

Nadushanka decided to leave home and become a monk when his widower father married again. He was ordained as a monk last year. Sujatha Thera says he is happy with his life in the Pirivena, studying Pali, Sanskrit, English, the Thripitaka and other subjects. He has his new friends at the temple, but keeps in touch with his old friends.

Meanwhile, Sujatha Thera was recently examined for suspected cancer. The Chief Monk of the temple told the Sunday Times that they were awaiting the results of the biopsy.

Still no house deeds for occupants

Thelwatta is one area that was badly affected by the tsunami, with much loss of life, and many homes destroyed. Survivors and homeless families have been given homes under the tsunami housing relief scheme at “Manujaya Pura”, in Ambalangoda. However, the residents of Manujaya Pura live in a state of uncertainty because they have still not received the deeds to their new homes.

“The JVP [Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna] built the houses, which were entrusted to the office of the Assistant Government Agent. We were told we would be given the deeds, but this has not happened,” resident Mrs. A. Ratnayake told the Sunday Times.

Home uncertain home for many.

“I lost my two-and-a-half-year-old son in the tsunami,” Mrs. Ratnayake said. “I was carrying him when the waves hit our house. He slipped out my hands.” She says she still fears the sea that took away her child.

Mrs. W. A. Priyanthika, another Manujaya Pura resident, said she and her neighbours had homes just 100 metres from the sea. They were helpless when the tsunami struck.

“My eldest son was swept away by the waves, and we found him two days later in the Batapola Hospital. We did not know whether he was alive or not. I went from hospital morgue to morgue, looking for his body.”

Mrs. W. A. Priyanthika says she avoids going near the sea. She says she and her family are happy to have one of the 26 homes built under housing relief scheme. Her husband is a fisherman. “We feel safe here,” she says.

Despite the tsunami memory, survivor Eric de Silva says loves the sea, and wished he lived closer to it.
“I am a fisherman, and the sea is a part of my life,” he says. “If I had the money, I would rebuild my old home by the sea and go and live there.”

The cracks are showing, say tenants

By Gamini Mahadura from Galle

The tsunami relief scheme houses built in the new village of Sirikandurawatta are already showing cracks, and the National Construction Research Centre says none of the houses in the village are suitable for living.

The tsunami village comprises 146 houses, which were constructed in 2006 by an NGO. Another NGO built 41 houses for tsunami-affected people in the village.

Around 105 people continue to live in houses that are proving unusable, while some 60 families have already moved out to and are living in rented homes or with relatives.