Tsunami Jitters
Sascha Gerbracht has agreed to keep us up-to-date with what's happening in Weligama. He is the 17-year-old son of Tom and Heike Gerbracht. He attends a Sinhalese school, and speaks fluent Sinhalese. I'll tell you more about him next week. In the meantime, here's his first piece of news:
Although nearly three months have gone by since the tsunami, Weligama residents are still very jittery about another big wave engulfing the town. Panic broke out yesterday after the radio announced that a tsunami had hit India, and there was a possibility that Sri Lanka would also be hit.
"It was total madness," said Sunil Padmasiri, a 54-year-old Weligama citizen, who was caught up in the chaos outside a local school, as teachers climbed onto rooftops and parents fought their way into the building to retrieve their children. "Some people even enjoyed the chaos and started fights with other people, just for the fun of it. To make things worse, van drivers and motorcyclists and other vehicles squeezed their way into the crowd."
Padmasiri compared the noonday scene outside the school to "a herd of cattle being chased," with parents, children, and teachers running in all directions. It took him more than an hour to find his way through the chaotic crowd.
-- Michael Dobbs
By washingtonpost.com |
March 18, 2005; 8:55 AM ET
| Category:
Michael Dobbs
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Posted by: L Cash | March 22, 2005 04:09 PM
Happy Birth Day
Posted by: Thushari Sarojani | March 23, 2005 01:26 AM
A good portrayal from a teenagers eyes of the fear still remaining with the local people of Weligama.
Posted by: Thelma | March 23, 2005 11:45 AM
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Not very much information imparted except about the language. While this is intriguing I have yet to uderstand what the write is doing there.