Loads had have been written about the 2004 Asian Tsunami or the Boxing Day Tsunami, yet when December comes by; it hark back of been in the most fragile place on earth in the face of disaster. It may be ‘ the last paradise on earth’ but these archipelago of 2000 odd islands in the middle of Indian ocean is "the last place on earth" you ought to be when Tsunami strikes.Sunday being the first working day of this, hundred percent Muslim nation, I walked down from third floor to the second landing to see my friend on the way to work. The flight scheduler already in his navy trouser and flapped white shirt, strugglng to buckle his belt followed up with spraying , combination of perfumes disguising the brand, superstitious character spoke how he was thrown off the bed previous night, only to wake up on the floor. I thought may be this is what happens when you jump the species barrier from Scotch to vodka on the same night.
The street looks sluggish, strolling down the lane trying to beat the Sunday greens,( I suppose, can use that way as well) resorted to the comfort of my little office, no signs of life in the hotel even, not ready to talk business though, my wife' alerted me that the street in front of our home is water logged and springs appearing out of manholes, playing it down, left my comfort zone straight to the lobby area, we are right in the main street and the paved roads look dry as ever. Expecting a good breakfast may bring some good tidings.
Our sixth floor restaurant is one of the much sought after point to feel the pulse of Male’ the capital of Maldives, a good view of the air crafts climb and descend, ships cruising round the island to berth across, holding for their turns to enter harbor, ferries that leave the jetty can be tracked till it enters the break waters of airport. This compact capital city is all about two and half square mile radius.
It’s a coincidence that I have been sitting on this piece of write up for weeks now and today the news break about the Samoa Tsunami, again a fragile land in the middle of the vast ocean.
Male’ pronounced as Ma-ley is just two kilometers away from the International airport which is set exclusively on an island connected with frequent ferries of ten minutes ride. One of the highlights of visit to Maldives is its airport itself and if you are fluky enough to be on a window seat on your way in to Maldives, the admiration starts from the first signs of descend of the aircraft, nowhere to see signs of a city, the aircraft sheds its altitude in the middle of Indian ocean with round tiny green patches all around and you see only sea even into the final approach many prefer to close eyes rather than watching the heavy jet flying in to water.
The view from cockpit is altogether different though, in the final approach it resembles of landing on a sunken aircraft carrier with only its runway floating barely above the sea. A single runway, bigger aircraft wings stretching almost to the boundaries on both ends, caters to all type of air crafts, AN’s, Hercules, 747 , 777, Amphibians last but not least few choppers. A water aerodrome adjacent is the home of the largest fleet of float planes in the world which was accessed earlier by crossing the main runway.
I have been in the balcony for few minutes now looking at the calm ocean and the busy activities in and around it, my attention got the better of a hysteric movement in the jetty, boats were swaying, crew jumping out and trying to control the boats from banging each other, all lasted only for a couple of minutes and every body look surprised. Before making it out what was that all about, another round of hectic activity this time crews jumping on to the boats and started sailing out of the jetty into the deep ocean , totally awestruck and to my horror the jetty started to drain out, the sea rolling back like a wave of defeated army. The sea came back with vengeance filling the empty jetty and overflowing in to the land, looking towards my left to the main street I saw water gushing in like a Spielberg movie, past the red traffic lights with motorbikes floating on it. What I never knew until then was that the island was already invaded by sea from many sides and I was watching the last bout of action.
News started coming in of the Indonesian earthquake and the tsunami, Few seaplanes hovering above the airport. I decided to move up to the tenth floor terrace for a better view, only to realize the airport is submerged under the water the main exit point of Maldives to outer world.
News started coming in of the Indonesian earthquake and the tsunami, Few seaplanes hovering above the airport. I decided to move up to the tenth floor terrace for a better view, only to realize the airport is submerged under the water the main exit point of Maldives to outer world.
The float markings and wooden floats of water aerodrome are floating with the tide in the deep ocean. One seaplane came down in the middle of the sea, the aircraft which is built to land in lagoons is taking the brunt of the high sea but low in fuel that was the only option left for the crew. The airport was in Shambles, Sea playing havoc with the runway, buses and trucks floating around it, its hard to differentiate between the sea and run way. Then came the domestic flight a Donier 225 flown past very low over the airport, crew taking a good look at the runway, nowhere to go they came for the second approach seems to be a missed one again most probably they can’t make out where the runway begins, this time they came flying high almost in to the middle of suppose to be runway then just nosedived only to straighten up the aircraft in the last few seconds making sure he hits the runway and not the shallow waters of the lagoon..
Water came into Maldives islands from all sides and there is no place to escape other than the vertical lift. In many faraway islands water erased the hard work of many lifetimes dumping everything back into the sea including precious lives. The streets were full of dead fishes, boats sitting on streets and vehicles in Sea. People look stunned by the onslaught of the sea which was their playground until then. This tiny island nation barely above the sea level taken the brunt of the sea in its full might and the communications were cut off between its islands. It’s a revelation that not only the sea level rise blamed on green house gases is the only threat to the low lying lands. The absence of a functioning runway and the sheer location made it impossible for help to arrive immediately. The talk of a place in the backyard of Australia or elsewhere for this Island nation emerged again. The optimistic few believe these beautiful islands which existed for centuries will overcome the test of time.
Aftershocks:
On the day of Tsunami the foreign Ministry phone kept on ringing, an early morning office cleaner found it unusual for the phone to ring so desperately, hesitantly he picked up to inform the caller that the office is not open yet. The caller was in no way to let the cleaner drop the phone he mentioned about some American department and not much time left, Tsunami may reach Maldives in the next one hour or so, ask the ministry to make the necessary arrangements immediately. And when the Tsunami struck the airport island there was a placard floating on the water which read "welcome Mr. Tsunami".
The Maldives governments every child swim campaign was a great success but Tsunami thought them another lesson swimming alone is not enough. A minister went on records saying we should start every child climb program immediately sighting the number of people who saved themselves climbing on to coconut trees
Water came into Maldives islands from all sides and there is no place to escape other than the vertical lift. In many faraway islands water erased the hard work of many lifetimes dumping everything back into the sea including precious lives. The streets were full of dead fishes, boats sitting on streets and vehicles in Sea. People look stunned by the onslaught of the sea which was their playground until then. This tiny island nation barely above the sea level taken the brunt of the sea in its full might and the communications were cut off between its islands. It’s a revelation that not only the sea level rise blamed on green house gases is the only threat to the low lying lands. The absence of a functioning runway and the sheer location made it impossible for help to arrive immediately. The talk of a place in the backyard of Australia or elsewhere for this Island nation emerged again. The optimistic few believe these beautiful islands which existed for centuries will overcome the test of time.
Aftershocks:
On the day of Tsunami the foreign Ministry phone kept on ringing, an early morning office cleaner found it unusual for the phone to ring so desperately, hesitantly he picked up to inform the caller that the office is not open yet. The caller was in no way to let the cleaner drop the phone he mentioned about some American department and not much time left, Tsunami may reach Maldives in the next one hour or so, ask the ministry to make the necessary arrangements immediately. And when the Tsunami struck the airport island there was a placard floating on the water which read "welcome Mr. Tsunami".
The Maldives governments every child swim campaign was a great success but Tsunami thought them another lesson swimming alone is not enough. A minister went on records saying we should start every child climb program immediately sighting the number of people who saved themselves climbing on to coconut trees
2 comments:
let us not dwell on matters past.
it was a horrific natural disaster.
mother nature wins all the time.
humans would just have to bear the brunt.
was in sumatera during the 2004 quakes.
being from malaysia self could not recognise the signs at all.
i.e. swaying trees,nausea,bed shaking etc.
I was heading Air Equator based in Gan Island, Maldives and was living there in Feydhoo during the time the Tsunami struck. We were operating an inter island turboprop passenger Aircraft from Gan. Our first flight of the day had not taken off. I received a call from DGCA asking me not to launch our flight. So we announced a cancellation and told the people that Male' Airport was under water.
In Gan our experience was limited. We saw the water receding but when it came back, it did not wash over the Island, just came over the barrier a bit thats all. Other islands were not in good shape.
When we started flying later with relief material, we noticed extensive damage to Laamu Atoll. Kadhdhoo bore the brunt of it. Since Gan was dry, the IAF came there with their HS 748 Avro for refueling and restocking relief material. We provided them some assistance with local maps, giving some advice and also lending our GPU for their engine starts. Our Aircraft was used by the Turkish consulate for reconnaisance of the areas affected by the Tsunami and we did a bit of flying for that.
Male airport had reopened within 48 hours and water had been pumped off the runway. When we saw it, two days later, it was almost normal except for wetness here and there. It was a confusing time, that one. So many lives were lost in the whole region, Maldives included. Tragic indeed.
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