Just a Reminder:One Year Ago Today 230,000 Lives Lost in Tsunami (Update)

[Clara T]

New Canadians remember tsunami one year later

Updated Sat. Dec. 24 2005 11:32 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

While many people around the world are celebrating Christmas this weekend, some new Canadians are marking the solemn anniversary of a tragedy that claimed thousands of lives in their homelands.

Augustin Yogarajah, a Sri Lankan, lived through the December 26 tsunami when it slammed into his country and much of South Asia. It was one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history, claiming more than 200,000 lives.

The memory is still fresh in his mind as he and his family make their new life in Canada, one year after surviving 10-metre waves that destroyed their home in Trincomalee, a seaside town along the eastern shore of Sri Lanka.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051224/tsunami_051224/20051224?hub=TopStories

PHUKET, THAILAND, Dec. 23, 2005 — It tore through Aceh, Indonesia, with the force of an atomic bomb, obliterated hundreds of coastal villages in Sri Lanka and India, and smashed through luxury hotels in the beach resorts of Thailand.

The amount of death and destruction was almost unimaginable, and it spawned an unprecedented outpouring of humanitarian aid and record donations for relief and reconstruction.

But one year later, recovery in the Southeast Asia tsunami zone has fallen far short of expectations.

A frustrated Umi Kaosum — who lost family, friends, her home, her entire village in Aceh — knows about all the money that was donated. So why doesn't she have a home yet?

Government officials and aid agencies are dismayed that so many remain homeless, but the sheer scale of this disaster meant rebuilding more than just temporary housing. In Aceh, roughly $2 billion out of $7 billion has been spent on rebuilding roads, ports, water and sanitation facilities, and the first 13,000 houses. But 130,000 more homes are needed, and that could take three more years.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Tsunami/story?id=1437670&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Dec. 26, 2005 - Jan. 2, 2006 issue - Ratte Kongwat Mai refuses to move away from her beachfront home. One year ago ocean waves measuring up to 21 meters obliterated her neighborhood in the tiny Thai fishing village of Ban Nam Khem, about 160 kilometers north of Phuket. The Asian tsunami killed nearly 1,000 people in the village, including Ratte's 8-year-old daughter. In the months that followed, the survivors could not simply grieve; they were forced to confront homelessness, joblessness, destitution and death threats from an ongoing legal dispute over the land, not to mention nightmares of a repeat of the massive disaster. Some of the villagers moved farther inland, but Ratte opted to rebuild her house and stay put. She believes the spirit of her lost daughter now roams the beaches, and she refuses to abandon the child. "I'm not afraid of tsunamis coming again—my daughter died here and now she lives here," she says. "Nothing could be worse than what happened last year."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10507305/site/newsweek/