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Page 16 • Thursday, January 20, 2005
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The Pendulum
The tsunami: A personal account from Mi
lessica Patchett
Reporter
Mirai Booth-Ong stirred in her
grandfather’s bed. She must have
been dreaming - earthquakes don’t
happen in Malaysia. Back in Tokyo
there were earthquakes all the time,
but not here. Mi rolled over and
went back to sleep.
Downstairs, one of Mi’s uncles
and her grandmother were eating
breakfast. “Stop shaking the table,”
Mi’s uncle said. Her grandmother
replied, “I’m not.” He got up from
the table and went to the bathroom,
where he said he saw water sloshing
out of the toilet.
At a nearby park in Penang, Mi’s
mom was doing aerobics with 600
people in an outdoor arena. With so
many people moving up and down,
no one realized the ground was mov
ing back and forth underneath them.
Mi and her family had gathered in
Penang in honor of the previous day:
December 25 marked 100 days after
her grandfather had died. In Chinese
culture, it is traditional for families
to reunite at that time. Only one of
Mi’s uncles couldn’t come for the
reunion.
Ong had to stay at the Galle Fort
Hotel in Sri Lanka, where he and his
partner host tourists. Growing in
popularity, the hotel couldn’t be left
even to visit his family on Dec. 25.
But when the ground shook Sri
Lanka the next day, people left
panic-stricken.
Mi hadn’t been dreaming.
Between 9 and 10 a.m. Dec. 26, a
well. Mi and her family
took the elevator down 15
stories. Outside, Mi looked
beyond the street and below
the piles of rocks to the
ocean lapping against the
beach. She was surprised at
how much people worried.
“I grew up taking earth
quakes for granted. So, I
didn’t really think about
what was to follow,” Mi
said. “I didn’t know earth
quakes could happen under
water. I didn’t know tsunami’s could
follow an earthquake.”
But a tsunami did follow the
earthquake that morning. By the
time Mi was outside, waves stories
high were hitting nations’ shores
across the Indian Ocean.
“If we knew what was to follow
[the earthquake], we would have
known that going outside would
have been the worst thing to do,” Mi
said. When the waves came to the
side of Penang where Mi was stay
ing, the water did little more than
deposit mud and sand on the road
nearby. But on the other side of the
island, 70 people died. Mi said.
In the afternoon. Mi’s aunt told
her family she heard reports of the
tsunami, and that it had hit the Galle
Fort much worse than Penang.
The family got in touch with Ong
at the Galle Fort Hotel and learned
that his staff had left in search of
loved ones when the waves hit, and
that the hotel was being used as a
refuge for people left homeless. Ong
said he was worried about the safety
Mirai Booth-Ong
massive earthquake began under the
Indian Ocean. Unaware of the great people staying
effects of the small tremors he felt
earlier, Mi’s uncle woke her up and
said people were gathering outside.
Confused, Mi got up. In Tokyo,
the last thing anyone did in an earth
quake was run to the elevator. But,
since her grandmother can’t walk
there. He didn’t know if there was
enough food and water for the
refugees.
Days later, Ong had not left the
hotel. “When he finally went out
side, there were overtumed buses
and dead bodies laying all around,”
, , , Photo Submitted
In total, more than 15,000 people died on the tsunami And in
the aftermath of disease, iniury and loss, hundreds of thousands
more are strussline to live
Mi said. “Soon after,
my uncle went back to
Malaysia to get out of
the disaster,” Mi said.
“He was in a total state
of shock. He couldn’t
cope with it, but his
partner is keeping the
hotel together,” Mi
said.
According to Mi,
refugees have left the
hotel and international
joumalists covering the
tragedy have taken residence there.
The staff is coming back, but people
talk about when a second tsunami
will come.
“People aren’t going to want to go
back for a while,” Mi said, referring
to the tourists who keep Southeast
Asia’s economy alive. In places like
Penang, tourist areas were badly
damaged, but local housing was
generally spared. In other places,
entire towns were swept away.
About 500 people were killed in
Galle; 30,600 on the small island of
Sri Lanka. About 70 people were
killed in Malaysia where Mi was
staying; 100,000 died in nearby
Indonesia.
“Peoples’ whole families washed
away. Mi said, “I can’t imagine
what it’s like to have your entire
family just gone. I have uncles,
aunts, cousins, my grandmother. My
family was in two places that were
hit and I think we’re just really
lucky.”
Mi s family is deeply connected
with people affected by this tragedy-
but so is everyone else. Mi said. She
IS helping organize efforts at Elon in
response to the tsunami disaster for
what she said is a great need- shelter.
Habitat for Humanity and Heifer
International both focus on helping
third-world nations develop long
term sustainability resources.
Money collected at Elon will be
given to these groups to help rebuild
South East Asia.
I just don’t know when to stop
[asking for help],” Mi said. “The dis
aster IS already off people’s minds.”
But mere will be people dealing
With this tragedy their entire lives.
For the longer version of the story
log on to http:/www.elon.edu\)endu-
lurn
Contact Jessica Pa,che„ a,
liim@elon.edu or 278-7247
MiHionc nf nar.r.1 Photo Submitted
greatest earthaualr off-guard when a tsunami followed the
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