My South East Asia Tsunami Experience

Scott Pearson

Adelaide

South Australia

26^th December 2004 - I remember hearing about another earthquake around Indonesia . I showed some interest but soon forgot about it, as we do these days; disaster and war news stories seem to fade into each other. Later that day the word Tsunami was everywhere. (I didn’t even know how to spell it, but now I will never forget.)

The footage on the TV was disturbing and there was a very different feel about the whole situation and something inside me stirred and haunted me so much that I just had to try and help in some way. I contacted the my Fire Service to see if we were to send a team over, then I contacted every aid organisation but they were in overload mode and showed no interest. So I registered my details and skills on a website somewhere and instantly I was contacted by many individual self funded groups and also made contact with a few other Australians who were going over to help.

With the support of a few friends, local businesses like Ray Irons from Irons Engineering and the Professional Firefighters Charity Foundation I managed to raise enough money and collect donated tools and equipment  and I was off to Phuket in Thailand to be one of the first from United Volunteers to arrive in the area.

We arrived at Phuket Airport to be greeted by the depressing heat and humidity then a terrifying taxi ride from hell. In the taxi I was wondering, “What am I doing here?”. Everything looked in order – people everywhere going about their business, houses and buildings as usual, until somehow we arrived alive at Patong Beach . ‘Bloody hell!’ It looked like a scene from Hiroshima after the bomb. The sight of all the damage to the buildings and the amount of debris was overwhelming.

I met the others and went on a survey of the area; the beach was covered in timber, clothing, plastic, everything you can imagine including a leg with that smell I was soon to get used to. We made contact with another group of people who had been working about a ½ hour drive around the coast, at a place called Bang Tao that had been very badly affected by the wave.

On arrival at Bang Tao the scene was like old black and white news footage from WW2. People were wandering aimlessly, buildings destroyed, trees and wreckage everywhere but in brilliant color. (The thought that this must be what my late father would have seen during the 2^nd world war hit me, and the first lot of tears came.)

Through the devastation was the most sparkling blue water – very strange; the sea looked so inviting but only a short time before it had been so destructive. The first sight of Bang Tao will be imprinted on my mind forever.

Where do we start?

We started by unpacking bags of tools that were donated by Clipsal,  Bianco, Solder-Tech and other fantastic people then the crowd gathered. “You bloody beauty, decent tools.” An Aussie’s voice came through the jumble of accents. People from all around the world had gathered at Bang Tao but the Aussies stood out like a set of Brahman Bull Balls on a Whippet. Aussies are the funniest bastards in the world and as I was about to find out, the best workers, humanitarians, and the most respected bunch of workers on this strange planet we live on.

With the tool belt on I set to work getting power, water and the essential things up and running, I was glad that I have had so many different jobs over the years where I have picked up many varied skills because I used everything from one extreme to another. I was soon put into a leadership role.

Most of the volunteers were young with minimal skills but very willing to learn. It was frustrating for a while and almost like handyman school. My attention was diverted to many diverse projects and trying to prioritize was very hard. At one stage I was the only tradesman in the area and the pressure was on. I went from inspecting bridges that had been washed away to setting up a medical clinic to rewiring water pumps and plumbing. It was overwhelming but progress was being made. The Thai people were very inspiring and they have taught me a lot about humanity and resilience, I will never complain about anything again. (I bet I do.)

One day a van with blacked out windows arrived at our base and out stepped a big scary man and a Thai Army Officer looking for the Aussies with the construction skills. They were directed to me; I soiled my under garments at the sight of them. They ended up being very nice guys and wanted our help. We flew around Thailand in a helicopter with them. They showed us the massive devastation from the air and also remote communities who were in need of assistance. We also travelled almost into Burma looking for boat builders to acquire traditional fishing boats from, to get the local fisherman working. We ordered 22 boats from one village with the price being negotiated by the Thai army Colonel. (What an experience that was!)

Khao Lac was the most damaged area I have seen, with even a police launch washed 5 km inland. This is where most of the tourists were killed; about 5000 bodies recovered and thousands are still missing.

We then flew into the Thai equivalent of Parliament House where the Colonel had arranged a meeting with the Governor. (My under garments were having a bad day.) Somehow through the language barrier we agreed to assist the Thai Government with employing displaced locals to help with the rebuild and a personal letter was received from the governor stating this.

I could not do this without help, so I made contact with the Australian Government expecting assistance. (Yeah right! Not a cracker.) The people from Khao Lac needed assistance IMMEDIATELY and without any assistance from Australian Authorities or any other aid organisations we purchased thousands of dollars worth of urgently needed supplies. We loaded them onto trucks and took them to the refugee camps and bugger me, nothing can prepare you for that. (I will leave that there.) 

Things carried on pretty much like that for 3 weeks. Every day - a new story of survival; every day - a new outlook on life; every day - new people from different walks of life coming and going; everyday - phone calls to and from Australia; everyday - asking for help and everyday - my good friends Charlie and Julie and others came to the rescue arranging tools, money and encouragement. They will never know the impact they made to so many people halfway around the world and to me.  

Within the ruins I have had a unique lesson in compassion, spirit, the emotional roller coaster ride, the friendships I have forged with people that I would not have had a chance to meet, the homesickness and missing my wife and kids and grandkids, the disappointment in the Australian Governments lack of help, the people who came out of the woodwork to help and the ones who didn’t will change me, but change me for the better. 

Thanks to all who helped in any way. (You know who you are.) The battle is not over and the real work now begins. We need to learn and prepare for this type of disaster and get organized for immediate response. My old saying of “Cut the crap, Just do it” proved itself here. I hope the right people learn the lesson also.

 








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