Mennonite Central Committee

Report from Sri Lanka

December 29, 2004
Mary Oxley

MCC workers Mark and Mary Oxley and their two children are living in Colombo, Sri Lanka — one of the countries hardest hit by the earthquake-triggered tsunamis. Water came within 100 meters of the lane where they live. This is an excerpt from a Dec. 28 e-mail from Mary.

It is hard to describe how we are all feeling here. The footage on the TV is horrendous. The beach community at the end of our road was badly affected, with thousands of families losing their homes (shacks) and are now crowded into the local temples and school halls. The misery and destruction is worse the further south you travel. The water sports center where we were last week is wrecked and the beach that we were at on our last day there is now completely submerged under water. It is frightening to think of all the possibilities.

It seems that so many people were caught out because they were mesmerized by seeing the water suddenly recede. Natalie from the water sport center said that they noticed the water 'draining out'from the river, out to sea and before they realized, someone came screaming telling them to run and get away as fast as they could. The water had turned and was rushing back towards them in great waves.

Everyone you speak to here is either personally affected by loss or knows of people who are. Whole families are unaccounted for and the number of holiday makers still missing is only starting to become apparent. It is just too much to take in and comprehend.

And there was no warning.

Yesterday was a fraught day as there was no end of rumors throughout the day of a further big earthquake and more waves to follow. It is just impossible to get accurate info. To think that we weren't even aware of events until after it had all happened. Our first clue that something was up was a text message on our return to the apartment several hours after the first wave hit. A friend said that she was evacuating and what were we doing! I hadn't a clue what she was on about. I had thought something was afoot, because of the police at the top of our road and the crowds of people. I rang her back and she put us in the picture. We were advised to pack some overnight things, take our valuables and vacate the apartment. We were concerned about possible looting with the area being deserted. However, rumors were rife of other big waves and as the last one had come within 100 meters of our lane, we decided best to err on the side of caution. Also, Mrs. Guneratni wouldn't leave until she knew we were out of possible harms way! So, we had to go to get her to go!

 

Editor's Note: The Oxleys returned to their apartment, reporting that all was well. Mark Oxley has now traveled with a medical team to Ampara and will return likely on Saturday. Further updates will be posted as they are available.