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Phuket Holiday Disaster

Posted by Lance Powers

Dec 26th seemed like any other morning in Phuket. It was a gorgeous day and I was just rolling out of bed with a slight hangover when I felt the earth move beneath my feet. The tremor only lasted a few seconds and having experienced stronger earthquakes in the past I wasn't too concerned. I strolled out on my balcony, lit a cigarette, and attempted to check my email. Looking down at the beach below I saw a few hundred people enjoying the early morning sun and white sandy beach of Patong Bay. I had no idea the terror I was about to witness would be forever etched on my memory of this normally happy place.

As I strolled back out on my balcony after fetching another coffee I saw a very strange sight. Most of the water in Patong Bay had mysteriously receded revealing a plethora of sea life and grounding several small fishing vessels. I thought this was really strange but did not immediately suspect something terrible was about to happen. I watched as small children and other curious tourists walked out further from land to investigate the strange phenomenon and tropical fish flapping about on the beach. Little did they know their curiosity would be so deadly.

To my horror I clearly saw a wall of water approaching Patong Bay at what some estimate to be more than 300km/hour. It was massive and looked completely surreal. From my vantage point I estimate the Tsunami was 3 stories tall. I saw throngs of people running for higher ground as screams of terror rose up from the beach. There was this bizarre stretch of time where people slowly realized what was about to happen. Many people just looked dumbfounded on the beach and didn't move at all. For many fleeing the beach would be impossible. From first sighting of the receding ocean to its devastating landing there was maybe 2-3 minutes to react.

When it finally hit I saw people completely disappear in the foamy water and many being whisked away at incredible speed towards my hotel. People were mixed in with cars, motorcycles, debris and entire buildings. Everything was thrown around like toys as desperate victims attempted to escape the chaos. I saw a large truck smashing through a hotel lobby. People attempting to outrun the rush of sea were caught by the water and carried away. Everything 500 meters inland from the beach was submeged in 2-3 meters of sandy brown water. Nothing could escape it. I remember thinking that what I was seeing had to be a dream - tidal waves don't happen here.

After the final wave hit complete and utter chaos ensued. My entire hotel staff disappeared and every Thai in town seemed to run for the hills as tourists milled about confused as to what had just taken place. As we struggled to get to the beach to take a closer look I saw bodies floating in water and badly injured tourists scrambling to escape. When we finally got to the beach we realized that everything that was once there was now gone, as if it was never there. Including cars, trees, umbrellas, and small beach bars. All of it was either pulled out to see or strewn about Patong in large piles. It looked as if a bomb had just gone off.

I met a German tourist who was sitting down crying. He explained to me that he had picked up a small Thai boy and sprinted to escape the water. He went on to say that when the wave swept him away he looked in his hand and saw only the boy's shirt. Bodies were being pulled out of the rubble by locals and tourists, as the rescue workers began arriving on the scene. I saw many people wth fractures and more serious injuries - it was completely overwhelming.

At this point the entire town pretty much evacuated itself as rumours began circling about more waves coming. We ended up staying behind and luckily no more waves came. The panic that followed the disaster was almost as frightening as the Tsunami itself with terrified residents and tourists walking, running, and driving to higher ground in the surrounding hills. I must have seen 1000 damaged vehicles and motorcycles along the roads near the water. Bodies were being pulled from piles of debris and many injured tourists sat crying along road sides or wandered about trying to locate their loved ones.

As of today I am still missing 2 Swedish tourists. I know they were on the beach and I have no idea where they are. I have reported them missing and alerted their families. Locals are putting the death toll at anywhere from 100-1000. The misinformation here is astounding but many people are missing friends and family. As usual the official numbers are much less at around 40-50. These numbers have to be incorrect as they are still now 24 hours later pulling bodies from the rubble. I doubt we will ever know how many lost their lives here - May God watch over and comfort them and their families.

Some photos and video I took after the disaster can be seen here. There is a lot of images here and I don't have time to go through them. Many of these were taken only a couple of hours after the waves hit.

Posted Dec 26, 2004 at 08:14 PM | Permalink |