Tsunamis

[alan]

I think my post was a little premature as the hours and days go by it looks worse that I first thought,some remote areas have\'nt even been searched yet,been watching alot of the news and I think these people can bounce back from this they seem very resourceful.Also heard that some tourists are still going out(Thailand),one group said they have been going for years now and have decided to go and help out instead of having a holiday.one said he wanted to \"give a little back after all the good times we\'ve had out there\".


Marc my brother wanted to start a diving school in Fiji about 18 months ago,its a long story but he had to deal with local chiefs,he had to pay three different chiefs certain taxes and rents if he went ahead with the business but he got the impression none of them got on.Needless to say he\'s still \"thinking\" about it.He said it was a dream come true until he made more enquiries,suppose its there way of life,they probably think ours is crap !

 

[gag1]

Friday, 31st of December, 2004 - Death toll now at 124,000 people - not one word from Tony Blair - USA pledges 18,000000 in aid (!) - NO plans to send out Royal Navy ships to assist. Kind of says it all doesnt it. Its a bit different when there is a war to be fought though.

george.

 

[sless]

tony blair is on holiday

 

[Marc]

This thing is getting worse by the hour.

I always used to think Sky News was one of the best and up to date channels for the news but they are showing some grusome images of this disaster.

I\'m sure they could cover this with a bit more tact and dignity. Lisa and the kids are in tears when ever they see it.

I\'ve stopped watching Sky News now.

 

[alan]

Friday, 31st of December, 2004 - Death toll now at 124,000 people - not one word from Tony Blair - USA pledges 18,000000 in aid (!) - NO plans to send out Royal Navy ships to assist. Kind of says it all doesnt it. Its a bit different when there is a war to be fought though.

george.

George dont think we have many Navy ships to send or maybe theres none in the region,we could probably get our whole fleet on the flight deck of one of the U.S Air Craft Carriers.
Think China could respond in some way,there people may be poor but the government is\'nt

 

[mark]

quite a lot of our fleet is already there, well nearly, 2 or 3 days steam away in the gulf.

can\'t see what we can\'t deploy a couple to ceylon and elsewhere in the indian ocean.. Not as if theres a military threat from the sea out out there

 

[willywetegg]

Said on the news this morning that two of our warships were on there way there allready.

Jim.

 

[alan]

One lucky chap here.
HIKKADUWA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - British surfer Martin Markwell had always dreamed of catching that perfect wave -- but when it finally came along, it was a nightmare.
Markwell was paddling on his surfboard on Sunday off the popular Hikkaduwa beach resort on Sri Lanka\'s palm-fringed southern coast when he was swept up by a tsunami wave and sent crashing over a white sand beach and into a hotel restaurant.

\"It was really terrible because I was surfing, I was really surfing on a wave I wasn\'t supposed to be on,\" he told Reuters.

\"As an experienced surfer, when I saw the wave come I realised something was wrong, but I couldn\'t escape because my surfboard was tied to my ankle.\"

His wife Vicki and son Jake looked on in horror from a hotel balcony as he crashed towards the shore. Miraculously, he stayed atop his board until he reached the hotel, jumped off and waded to safety as the ocean rolled back to feed a much larger tsunami wave on its way.

The family regrouped and ran inland into jungle to safety just minutes before a giant tsunami wave 10 metres (30 ft) high crashed into Sri Lanka\'s coast, killing more than 28,500 people.

 

[gag1]

Aye Alan, you are right there mate, most of our ships have been scrapped in one or another round of cuts.

cheers mate.
george.

 

[gag1]

Fully agree Marc, turned sky on this afternoon and there was this poor guy kissing the bodies of his two little boys. The scene left nothing to the imagination. No need for pictures like that mate. Wont be watching sky news in future if they have to rely on such footage to get their story across.

cheers.
george.

 

[elton]

Went into Oxfam today and put a few quid in the tin. A small gesture when you see the scale of this thing, but you\'re left wondering what else you can do.

I just hope the bureaucratic prats who have already delayed aid get off their arses and make sure a good percentage of the aid we give gets there quickly!

 

[Fisho]

Hej
All this is unbelivable. We are severly affected here in Sweden, so far 60 people are dead and identified - and another 3.559 are reported missing. This is by far the worst disaster for sweden in modern time. This number of people is 5 times more then when Estonia sunk and it\'s even more people then died in the 911-attacks. Almost every single people here know of some people/ family\'s that was in Thailand and is now reported missing. We are not used to these kind of things

and the politicans here are more into talking about \"the zero-vision (of dead and injured) in roadaccidents\", \"making laws to wear helmets when biking\" and accountant-problems...
It can\'t be worse from now on.
cheers and Happy New Year / Fisho

 

[mark]

the photo says it all fisho. The not knowing part must be terrible

 

[jethro18]

This disaster really lets us know how insignificant we really are in the whole picture of the world doesnt it.
My heart goes out to all who have suffered and are still suffering.