A survivor of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 says the best way to save lives in a tsunami is not by building sea walls but by showing residents what happens--and the need to get to high ground.
Rahmadhani, 42, who goes by only one name, helped recover bodies in his neighborhood after the tsunami hit the northwestern coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island. He now works as the director of the Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh.
He recently spoke of what he called "tsunami tourism" in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun. He was visiting Japan to give an address at a symposium in Osaka Prefecture organized by the National Museum of Ethnology. The conference explored ways of coping with disaster and rebuilding stricken communities.
The museum in Banda Aceh opened last year, honoring the victims and survivors of the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster. In Aceh province alone, more than 160,000 people were recorded dead or missing. The total number of casualties--around the Indian Ocean--will never be known, but is believed to be more than 220,000.
The museum has photo displays and a diorama showing residents frantically trying to flee. It also explains earthquake and tsunami science. It urges survivors to tell children of their experiences. It also uses picture cards to illustrate what they went through.
About 300,000 people have visited the museum since it opened.
Elsewhere in the city of Banda Aceh, some items washed inland have been left there as reminders of the flood. In one case, a fishing boat rests on the upper story of a house.
Rahmadhani's house stood eight kilometers from the coast, but not even that neighborhood was safe: the water there was two meters deep. He and his family could make it because they fled to a small rise of land. Afterward, Rahmadhani joined other survivors in searching for victims. He helped retrieve more than 10 bodies.
The death toll was high in Aceh province because few people there had been aware that a tsunami can follow an earthquake.
By contrast, there were only a handful of victims on the nearby island of Simeulue because islanders fled to higher ground. The island community had been hit by a tsunami in 1907--and its lessons had been passed down through the generations.
Rahmadhani says he could clearly imagine conditions in northeastern Japan when the giant earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11, 2011.
"We are seeking solidarity with the Japanese as fellow victims," he says.
Rahmadhani studied tourism at a graduate school in Australia. Back home, officials noticed his eagerness to combine education with tourism and tapped him to run the provincial museum.
Monday 17 December 2012
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201212180006
No comments:
Post a Comment