The TSUNAMI Hit on Sri Lanka, 26 December 2004 on Video & Camera-by Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts

The Video is courtesy of Felix Sirimanne and apart from its awesome pictorial display indicates that 35,322 lives were lost. All of us will be aware of friends or acquaintances whose sojourn on earth was rudely obliterated on that day….

For my part I deploy this recollection of a sad moment to doff my cap to Sujeeva Kamalasuriya, a young man who represented Sri Lanka in its Under 19 tour of Australia in the 1980s and then migrated to Adelaide where he was part of out Lankan cricketing circle. He was holdiaying at Unawatuna near Galle …. as it happens one of my favourite spots for snorkelling from years past to the present — when the tsunami hit and swallowed his life.

… and here let me mark its impact on ‘terrain’ in front of Galle Fort where the cricket ground was severely impacted while many lives weretaken in its ‘forfront, and along the shores though no one within the Fort was killed as far as I know (so the Dutch construction passed a severe test).

The video will confirm the common knowledge that the terrain that received the worst impact of this tsunamie were along the eastern and southeastern coasts; but the southern coast and one segment of the western coast also suffered considerably. The video seves up a rrevealing detaisl about a packed passenger train which was swallowed up at Peraliya just north of Hikkaduwa.

Among the sidelight anecdotes that I have gathered are the following:

(A) no wild anmals at the Yala Sanctuary on the south-eastern coastal tip died–they sensed the danger; (B) a Japanese tourist group visting one of the famous lodges by the beach were swamped and killed; (C) Kushil Gunasekera and aides at the world-famous philanthropic organisation, the Foundation of Goodnees, FOG, escaped from an impending function by running up a hillock (with a temple) alongside their buildings; and (D) Muttiah Muralitharan was on his way to this function as Chief Guest; and was on his way but, being typically Lankan, was late …. and received due warning to arrest his journey when at Moratuwa or thereabouts.

the remains of a house near Telwatte pictured two years later

2004 Tsunami Memorial in Sri Lanka.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rob Hutchison/EPA/Shutterstock (7615373a)
Sarah Roberts Speaks About Her Business Partner Sujeewa Kamalasuriya During His Funeral Service at Adelaide High School Australia On Wednesday 05 January 2005 Sujeewa Kamalasuriya and Sarah Were Travelling Together in Unawatuna Sri Lanka On 26 December 2004 When the Tsunami Hit the Region Killing Sujeewa
Sarah Roberts Speaks About Her Business Partner Sujeewa Kamalasuriya During His Funeral Service – Jan 2005

Former England cricket player Ian Botham walks across train tracks as he talks about the train that was pushed off the tracks by the December 2004 tsunami, killing over a thousand people, in Paraliya, 90 km (55 miles) south of Colombo, December 1, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds Acquire Licensing Rights