Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 thalenoi said: Don't allow 15 people to sit in the back of a pick-up might be a start? sorry. not possible. our rescue teams had to wedge themselve in those numbers on the back of the pick up trucks as there simply were not enough trucks available. ...and it must have been far far worse for the people actually trying to escape the wave. i know it is difficult to imagine what happened there, i wouldn't be able to if i haven't been down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 Not to anyone in particular. Haven't been reading the entire thread. It's in fact my first free time since this disaster started. Anyway, the subject at hand seems to be still, could all the tragic loss have been avoided? Probably not is my opinion. Tsunamies are unfortunate in that they don't show themselves much, untill they reach shallow water. At high seas the wavelength is too long to really notice a tsunami. Tsunamies travel at high speeds accross deep water and can reach like 700 km/hour. So really no advance notice. Tsunamies have never really been observed in the Indian Ocean. Many that I have spoken to that were actually there and survived mentioned that initially there was excitement at some unusual high waves. I think very few really were aware that some serious disaster had happenend. It's safe to say that authorities were caught completely unawares. Who can blame them really. And it's very difficult to repond to such a large scale disaster if the worst that one has confronted has been some road accidents or slum fires. The province of Ranong is an interesting example as the death and missing toll is quite limited. This is mainly due to a large military camp close to the seafront. Khao Lak in Pangnga doesn't have anything like that close by. The first day no one really knew that there were so many casualties in that area, as those that could have reported were probably casualties themselves. This was a disaster of global proportions. Such may occur again tomorrow or perhaps not for a thousand years. No one knows. It's pointless to blame authorities at this stage. Better to focus on the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 >>>It's pointless to blame authorities at this stage. Better to focus on the future. <<< that was the response of most officials when they saw me. i am sorry, but focussing on the future means that we have to analyse what went wrong ASAP, so that the same mistakes can be avoided the next time. i get the impression that the egos of certain people prevent an open investigation in what went wrong. that cannot be allowed to happen. the same mistakes will otherwise be made again. i am not asking that heads should roll, but that people like me, who were in a unique position are listened to. there are not many, because most of the rescue team members are too frightened of officialdom to say what they would like to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 I already read this report a couple of day ago. So what is there? Politicians bitching at each other. What is new? I've never said that a monitoring system is not good. And should not be implemented. It should. I've only addressed the present situation, and that nobody can blame Asian officials for dropping the ball, for this particular incidence. A 9.0 quake is huge. And that is what set this whole thing off. And will result in a tsunami somewhere. That is pretty much a given fact. The problem lays in the fact we don't know anything more than that. We are not yet able to predict where it will land, and what destruction it might cause. Just too many factors involved, to be able to determine those facts. The question is.......what do we do? Scream bloody murder everytime we have a quake? These things travel at 500 miles per hour. Time is not on our side. It's just not enough time to evacuate entire communities. Sure some might be saved. But just look at the damage. An early warning system might have saved a few sunbathing on the beach. But we can never save entire islands from being totally submerged within minutes, or hours. I know you are fustrated. So Am I. So are so many others. It's just mother nature rearing her head. In answer to this thread's title? Was this disaster avoidable? No HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 Hi fly. >>>i get the impression that the egos of certain people prevent an open investigation in what went wrong. that cannot be allowed to happen. the same mistakes will otherwise be made again.>>> So let's start here. What happened? Shit....i just read your report, and post above. I need a few minutes to respond. HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 can reach like 700 km/hour. So really no advance notice. A strange conclusion. The Indian Ocean is a big place. Each 700km of distance gives an hour notice. Thailand can start saving lives with as little as 20 minutes notice with existing systems. Some countries had hours between when the tsunami was discovered to when it impacted in this particular case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 Not to anyone in particular. ------------------------------- but thanks to you peculiarly, and good to see you back with a measured post, as usual. With such catastrophes, there can be blames for as long as the earth turns around itself, especially with administrations who have been blamed for just about anything that came under their radar. By now, i have talked to a few thais, and one thing that came out is that they are quite distraught by the magnitude of the damage. So, they realized only in the past few days, and not last Monday? Their reaction is still far from trying to bring the whole thing down to politicizing the tsunami, I even tried myself to bring Mr T. in the conversations, and what he said or says is the least of their concerns (smart people!). Anf if his administration actions have to be their concern, let's let them judge their leaders if they wish to. At some point, it just can't be our business to constantly refer to this Pm as if he was our leader too. People have the govnmts they deserve (famous quote, not mine), and if not, in Thailand they can vote or boot them out. They've done it before. It's their problem and their responsibility. For now, they want to help, not yakyak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 >>>>I even tried myself to bring Mr T. in the conversations, and what he said or says is the least of their concerns (smart people!). <<< not in takuapa district. there he is very much part of the conversation between local survivors and rescue volonteers of the first response teams. and i can tell you that what is said is not exactly flattering. suffering people... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 It is all academic now whether fatalities could have been limited as a result of this tsunami. The focus now needs to be on what can be done to minimise fatalaties in the event of another natural disaster happening. If we start apportioning blame and making scapegoats of individuals it will be all the more difficult to put whatever safeguards that are needed in place for the future. The arguments in this thread have become very cyclical. Out of this tradegy hopefully some strategies will emerge that will help minmise loss of life but this can only be done in an atmosphere where recriminations are kept to a minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted January 3, 2005 Report Share Posted January 3, 2005 ...hmm not too sure how to prevent traffic deaths actually, but maybe MM has an answer for us also there? ... Evacuate motorways . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.