Hi all,
About 5 days since the Sumatra earthquake, radio reports here in NZ give
out that the estimated death-toll is now up to 130,000; and 1,500,000 are
severely displaced. Seems that no Zuikoholics have been hurt, thankfully.
Aceh and Sri Lanka now have monsoon rains on top of the problems.
In the Phuket area of the Thai west coast, of the approx 4,000 found dead so
far, 2,000 are non-Thai holiday-makers mainly from northern-hemisphere cold-
winter countries. There is a strong NZ team trying to identify the bodies.
Missing New Zealanders are now down to 17, from a one-time list of 240.
Two confirmed dead including one guy who threw his pregnant wife safely up
on a roof just before the waves got him. There is a vigorous group of
expatriate NZ business-owners running tourist-orientated businesses there.
Outside the devastated area, it is pretty-much business as normal.
Here, in many places on the Thai west the waves came only 200 metres
inland, but elsewhere they came 1½ kilometres inland, sweeping all before.
In places where multi-storey beachfront hotels were hit, the bottom two
stories are totally trashed, leaving the stories above undamaged, illustrating
the height of the waves; 10 meters and more.
On the heavily populated Aceh coast, the coastal roads apparently totally
destroyed, and it is very difficult to get potable water, and food, to
survivors.
There is mention of a USA aircraft carrier with 17 Black-auk 'copters standing
off shore and helping deliver vital food & drink.
Brian
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