Some sad news this holiday season:
We got a call at about 05:00 this morning from a relative saying that there was a huge natural disaster in Sri Lanka. The epicenter of the massive earthquake was in Indonesia, but the after shocks and tidal waves went as far as Sri Lanka (over 1,000 miles away) and India. Sadly, Sri Lanka (where I was born) has been reported as one of the worst hit places where the death toll [as of now] is about 2,500 people. The total deaths in south east Asia are being reported at over 7,000. As I’m writing this, the death toll seems to be rising. This is the worst earthquake in over 40 years.
We managed to speak to someone in our family who couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She said it was like watching The Day After Tomorrow. Some of the tidal waves were as high as buildings! Thankfully the people we know in Sri Lanka are all alive and well.
While we were watching Sun TV (an Indian TV station) the camera suddenly started shaking, the news anchor jumped up with a look of terror and said (in Tamil): “The building is shaking. The building is shaking! The building is shaking!!!”
Our thoughts and prayers are with the many people who have lost someone in this horrible disaster today. This is another reminder that we can never take life for granted…