Study Shows that Boxing Day Tsunami hit both coasts of Canada

Waves from the Boxing Day tsunami in Southeast Asia late last year travelled tens of thousands of kilometres around the globe, eventually lapping at Canada's Atlantic and Pacific coasts several days later, an international report concludes. The waves that hit Halifax were less than half the size of a typical wave, but still higher than those that hit a small string of islands in the Indian Ocean directly south of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, says the report, published yesterday in the on-line edition of the journal Science.

Waves from the Boxing Day tsunami in Southeast Asia late last year travelled tens of thousands of kilometres around the globe, eventually lapping at Canada's Atlantic and Pacific coasts several days later, an international report concludes. The waves that hit Halifax were less than half the size of a typical wave, but still higher than those that hit a small string of islands in the Indian Ocean directly south of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, says the report, published yesterday in the on-line edition of the journal Science. Read More ....


(Source: The Globe and Mail)

Progress

"I live for each day.." says Chandrika.. A woman in Hambantota who lost everything to the tsunami.. Her husband.. her children.. her mother.. her house.. everything.. She lives in a camp put up by Sewalanka. She broke down i asked her to recall what happened that fateful day.. She sleeps with pieces of her daughters' clothes, she found them at the site of the house.. it was all that was left.. she recently found photographs of her wedding which were partially destroyed stuck in a tree.. with no friends and no companions she struggles by each day by selling frozen drink packets to little kids at 1 rupee each.. She still hasn't received any help from the government..

Tony, as he is known to his friends, a muslim who had 3 children, a wife and all-in-all a happy ever after.. He worked in Saudi for a long time to earn to give his children a good education and a good life.. He was in the middle east on the 26th of December.. He got the news that his wife and children were missing and rushed back here but alas, all was lost.. He still walks around with a briefcase in which he carries all the documents of his children.. hoping someday to find them as their bodies were never found.. he recently had a dream that his youngest daughter had called to him to come and look for her near Colombo so he took the next bus to Colombo to look for her.. He says he needs to go abroad to get on with his life because everytime he sees a little girl he is reminded of his daughter.. The government hasn't given him any aid either..

I went to Hambantota a month ago and again this week again to check the progress.. I've been in Hambantota for the past 3 days and witnessed how people are being neglected and how the government isn't doing anything to help them.. there's alot of negativity towards the government at this very moment.. they gave them food stamps but most of the aid has been given by NGO's and as private donations.. I just want to raise the question of "where's all the money that was given to the government..???" "why is everything so stagnant...??" Just a plea to everybody to do whatever they can.. especially the governmnt.. all is not well...

And also this is a thank you to all that have done what they can.. Keep up the good work..!

A lady named Petronella Ballard whose been living in Sri Lanka for the past 31 years has joined with many interesting people to begin a project called SwimLanka. It's a project which teaches children to swim with the intention of helping them get over their fear of the sea and also to help them be prepared if any other disaster related to water happens.. Julian Bolling, a famous swimmer who is an asset to the country has trained youth in certain areas to coach the kids.. I went to Tangalle to see what it's like, just to get an idea of what it was like and was touched to see how much the kids enjoyed it and how much enthusiasm was extended to the programme by people from all over the world.. it was beautiful.. it's so wonderful to see the way the children laugh and the way the team works.. Thanks so much..

That's all for now.. will keep you updated.. Let's do something people!!


Keep it blogged...

Ernst & Young - Indonesia Develops Tsunami Accounting Software

Ernst & Young Indonesia has developed a 'Tool Kit' to help organizations that provide humanitarian aid to Tsunami victims, to establish proper systems of accountability and internal control. Adlair Goldberg, Ernst & Young, Jakarta, the author of the tool kit named as EYe Tool Kit explained the details of the tool kit at a brief seminar arranged in association with the Consortium for Humanitarian Agencies held at Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka, last week.

As part of Ernst and Young commitment to support the Tsunami Relief Efforts and to help provide transparency and accountability in this very important humanitarian mission, Golberg said, theErnst & Young has developed EYe Tool Kit as a resource to help providers establish adequate systems to accountability and internal control within their organizations.
He said that an NGO is required to get the resources needed the plans and budget to do a solid programme and experienced people, proper organization and support systems should be in place and there should be solid relationship with the community of which they serve.

Read More ....

(Source: Indonesia Tsunami Relief Portal)

GOAL revitalises Sri Lanka schools

GOAL is undertaking a schools rehabilitation programme in Ampara District, Sri Lanka. With a budget of $7.5m the project will take approximately one year to complete. Seven months after Sri Lanka's unprecedented tragedy of December 26th 2004, there are signs of a society slowly getting back on it's feet. Amid the destruction wrought by the tsunami the humanitarian agency GOAL is rehabilitating sixty-four schools in the underdeveloped and neglected eastern province of Ampara.

With a budget of $7.5m the project is GOAL's biggest ever single project. It will have a significant impact on the lives of over 31,000 school children in the hardest hit community on the island, where livelihoods and lives were swept away in the terrifying ordeal.

Work has already started in several locations, directed by Ailbhe Gerrard, a project manager from Coolbawn near Nenagh in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. "Three of the schools had been directly hit by the tsunami wave, the force had smashed buildings leaving roofs hanging precariously over space where walls used to be, quarter structures standing abandoned and foundations exposed. Sixty one schools had hosted the thousands of refugees for weeks and in some cases months. These people needed shelter and had broken locks to enter classrooms, burnt wooden furniture to cook and heat water. There was extensive damage to latrines, water pipes and electrical fittings. " Read More ....



(Source: AlertNet)

Drama group aids tsunami victim

A Sri Lankan teenager has spoken of how a drama group now performing at the Edinburgh Festival eased the trauma she suffered from 26 December's tsunami. Ruwani Sitara, 15, lost seven members of her family in the disaster.

She is now taking part in Children of the Sea - based on Shakespeare's Pericles - as part of the Fringe Festival at the Royal Botanic Garden. Drama organiser Anoja Weerasinghe said workshops had helped many children who became terrified of the sea. Read More ....

(Source: BBC News)

India: Rebuilding Tsunami Ravaged Infrastructure To Take 3 Yrs

Indian government on Tuesday said it would take nearly three years to rebuild tsunami-battered areas, as the killer waves had rendered certain coastal areas highly salinated making them unfit for cultivation, according to a news report by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

"The tsunami has rendered certain coastal areas highly salinated thereby making them unfit for cultivation," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here after releasing a report on the calamity that struck several South Asian countries on December 26 last year.

"The government is trying its best to put life of the affected populace back on the rails," Ahluwalia said.

The report titled "Older People in tsunami: Challenges of Survival" prepared by the Helpage India noted that the fishing community was the worst-hit and that the agricultural land destroyed by salinity did not receive adequate attention. The Planning Commission Chairman said the government was making efforts to provide infrastructure of better quality like modern fishing harbours.

British Deputy High Commissioner Mark Runcares said his government has been extending financial assistance to the various NGOs for reconstruction of infrastructure. In course of its study, Helpage surveyed 856 old people, who said there were no specific component in the relief operations for them. Among the older victims of tsunami, 14 per cent of those surveyed were living alone, while two per cent had no income and eight per cent were unable to work. Three per cent respondents lost their assets and their entire family while four per cent lost their assets and young members of their family.



(Source: Malaysian National News Agency)

Tsunami alert system 'useless without communication'

A tsunami warning system will be fully operational in the Indian Ocean by July 2006, but it will be of little use unless nations in the region are ready to respond to its warnings, said participants at a conference in Perth, Australia, last Friday (5 August). The meeting, organised by the United Nations, gathered representatives of 27 countries at risk from future tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.

Those attending the Perth meeting agreed to add dozens of hi-tech seabed sensors and surface buoys to make tsunami detection faster and more precise. But accurate detection will only be valuable if warnings can be communicated to coastal communities and if authorities prepare evacuation plans. Read More ....

(Source: SciDevNet)

Hawaii study: Trees buffer tsunami impact

Planting trees and bushy plants between buildings and the ocean helped to lessen the impact of the waves when the Dec. 26 killer tsunami struck in the Maldives Islands, University of Hawaii researchers said. The observations by the UH researchers, who traveled to the Maldives about six weeks after the tsunami that killed about 180,000 people and left another 50,000 unaccounted for in 11 countries, could one day make hotels and other buildings in Hawaii safer. Read More ....



(Source: USA Today)