20 year anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami

Hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the tragedy caused by the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Around 250,000 people died in 2004, many were vacationers on holiday. See this NY Times article 20 Years Ago a Tsunami Killed 230,000 People. We Can Do Better Now

The story speaks to the progress made worldwide in trying to monitor for and then provide warnings of tsunami waves. While they are working on the “detection part” of the warning process, the dissemination of warnings and then most importantly, the actions of people to heed those warnings and know what to do to protect themselves.

Back in 2004 there were reports of elephants headed to high ground before the waves came on shore. We don’t have that animal sense, but we do have an entire generation of people who have been born and are not fully informed about the threat of tsunami waves.

Educating people is a continuous process. It will never end and the further away you get from a disaster like the one in 2004, there are fewer people who lived through it and understand the consequences of not being informed.

And, in 2011 Japan had their earthquake and tsunami that killed approximately 20,000 people. This in a country that I’d say is the most disaster prepared nation for natural disasters here on earth.