A story of survival from three adventist families from the tsunami

[Adventist News]

Subject: Fw: Tsunami - from Tamil Nadu, India

FYI - Wes

Subject: [Adventistdoctor] Tsunami

Dear friends,

It is a really sad event to see so many people being affected by the

devastating killer waves.

I want to share our experience with the Tsunami.

We had gone for our church retreat to Scripture Union, Mahabalipurum on 24 &

25th December. Scripture Union is a christian retreat center located on the

beach side. On 25th evening most of them left back to Vellore except three

families... Dr. Renjith, Dr. Vivek Gaikwad and Dr. King Kisku. I left for my

friend's residence at Tirukalukundram, 15 kms from there. On Sunday morning

we got the news about the earthquake and the sea waves that had affected the

coastal land. We thanked God that we were out of the place just in time. But

at the same time, we were worried about the families that were at Scripture

Union. I immediately contacted over the phone and they a different story.

They were in the sea till 8:30 am. They came for their breakfast at 9:00 am.

At 9:20 am they heard shouts of water. They rushed to see what it was...

only to realize that the sea water had come upto the dining hall. Their

vehicles were parked close to the dormitory... the water was about 3 feet

deep there and their cars were floating. They tried to run away. The water

receeded after 30 minutes. They tried to drive the car.. one got started but

the other won't. In the meantime, I got them over the phone... and I asked

them to leave that place immediately. But they had only car as the other car

won't start... the engine was packed with pine leaves and water had got in

everywhere. There was no other means of transport. I asked them to get the

children and the women out to a safer place we will come to pick up the

rest. We drove from Tirukalukundram to Scripture Union. It was an

astonishing sight to see... hundreds and thousands of people with their

luggages and children were moving away from the coastal land to the mainland

to Chenglepet. There was panic among the people.... buses and trucks loaded

with people were fleeing... you could see the fear that was written on their

faces. Everyone were moving away from the sea.. and we were driving in the

opposite direction... people crossing us were telling us not to go towards

the sea... but we had to go to rescue our friends. We met Dr. King Kisku

with all the children and the women on the way and we asked them to go to

Tirukalukundram and we will get the rest of them. There was a massive crowd

that was moving .. almost blocking the roads. We somehow managed to reach

the spot where they were getting the car repaired... there were no mechanic,

everyone had fled... the only person there was reluctantly try to locate the

problem. It took almost one hour to get the car started. Our eyes were fixed

on the sea... at the earliest sign of any wave coming towards the road, we

would drive. Houses were submerged, trees were uprooted, walls had fallen

.. it was a miserable sight. We dared to go towards the sea to see how

things were. We could see the angry waves... it had come very close to the

East-Coast Highway, which would be about 300 meters form the sea coast. The

car got started finally and we were able to leave the place and come home

safely. We thanked God for His miraculous protection. Had our friends been

in the sea beach when the Tsunami came... they wouldn't have been alive.

We need to pray for the hundreds and thousands of people who have lost their

dear ones.

We need to pray for the equal number of people who are homeless and without

food.

CMC has sent a team to Nagapatinam, the worst hit area. We are trying to

collect food, clothing and money to send to these areas. Do pray and send

your supports to the people affected.

Dr. Samuel George Hansdak