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THE
FIRST WAVE JUST BEFORE IT HITS!
By Rick Von Feldt
How could you let them just lie there? And so, a few local came out to explore. And if the
locals were out there - then surely they must know why this was happening. And so surely
it must also be safe?
But then we saw the wall. At first - way out at sea. But wait. If you blinked your eyes -
it changed positions really fast. Really fast. And then we could see it was moving too
fast. For a few seconds, everyone was mesmerized by the wall. And the sound. And then,
with a snap of a finger, hundreds were popped out of their hypnosis - and people started
to walk. Fast. And then run. And soon, everyone started to scream. "Get up on the
wall!" some shouted.
With only a few stairs going up the concrete wall - everyone headed for a distant spot on
the beach. And some thought it would be ok if you just got up on the wall.
The water filled up the beach like a gorging bathtub. Water came at the people at 150 mph
- and no matter how hard you tried, unless you were close to the wall - you couldn't
outrun it.
The water came in fast. Some people stumbled. Some held their gound or were swept WITH the
water towards the wall. People sputtered and coughed.
The water spilled over the road.
Some people went down - and most were in shock to have seen such a thing happen. But that
was only the beginning. And while many people were able to stand back up again - brusied
and battered, or having had all of their clothing ripped off by such a fast and switch
wave - it wasn't over.
The second - and most deadly SWELL came. And this one was the life taking swell. Larger.
More fierce. Taller by 10 feet - this one just came so strongly - and pushed everything in
its path towards the town. People were but leaves going under. This swell pushed all of
the 200 cars on the beach forward. It pushed hundreds of parked motorcyles and tuk tuks.
It pushed over the two busses parked in front of the dive shop - waiting to take divers
out to their morning dive, after having collected them all morning from local hotels.
It pushed hard and strong. Everything was pushed into the first row of hotels and shops
lining the beach. The swirls first broke open window and doors and washing out every stick
of furniture - every bed - every suitcase stacked in a corner. Tables and chair of
restaurants were sluiced out. And then every hole of room space was relaced with larger
items. Autos were thrown against buildings. Where there was a bed was now a car. Or 3
mangled motorcycles. The Coco-cola truck delivering morning soda was picked up and ran
into the side of a bank, wedging it so tight into the lobby that four vehicles the next
day would have to pull it out. Boats on the ocean were thrown into the forks of tall palm
trees on the beach.
People at the Starbucks went screaming madly. In 10 seconds, every piece of coffee
equipment, chair, table and bags of coffee were washed away. The only thing remaning were
the lights hanging from the second story ceiling.
The water weaved its way for 4 blocks inland - getting caught like a guided stream between
banks of buildings. The force pushed between the buildings, rising as high as 10 feet down
perpendicular roads to the beach - again, washing out everything shop on the ground floor.
And the people? Few had a real chance. If you could swim - and managed to follow the wave
- you might have a chance. But even if you could swim, the items being thrown with you -
above you - under you - battered you. Glass from many of the store front windows flowed
slilently and cut people.
If you were lucky enough to get away from the first wave - and you ran up stairs to tops
of buildings, you might have been lucky. But on Phuket beach - nearly 500 people who were
on the beach never made it. Families. Seniors. Fisherman. 250 bodies have been found so
far. More more just disappeared.
Because once all that water flowed inland during the second SWELL - the ocean once again,
pulled back, and drained the city just as fast - pulling out once again.
People talk of two waves. The incoming was tough. But once the water from the second wave
pulled back, everything floating in that water had to fall. Half of it flowed back out to
sea, like a hand of a monster grabbing - and not letting go. The rest fell to the ground
as the water vacated. Debris stacked 3 feet high covered everything (see my pictures
below). And the rest just washed out to sea - only to be returned, each morning, little by
little.
And the whole while, the morning sunshine warmed the day.
(this account comes from what I saw - and the stories told to me the moments and hours
after the tsunami). When looking at the photos below, you will see photos of the
descruction I took right after the waves hit. -
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