tsunami tens of thousands dead and missing

[Katt]

I did so well over x-mas and now the last two days I have been stress eating big time, My ex who is still one of my dearest friends has been working in Aceh, Indonesia for the past 15 months. Aceh is the closest to the epicenter and got hit with both a 9.0 quake which left buildings and houses in rubble and a 33 foot tidal wave. He lives right next to the ocean. I havent slept and I am seriously so stressed out. He is from England and all of our mutual friends have been calling me the last two days, day and night to see if I have heard from him. I've been so worried with him there for the last 18 months due to the civil war going on in Northern Sumatra when a freak of nature like this happens. I am guessing all power and phones are down which is why we havent heard from him and I am hoping he survived- His girlfriend who is from the area works for the red cross so hopefully he is just too busy helping out with the red cross to try and find communication.
He is there to design irrigation systems for local farmers, and is an environmental engineer (he works for a world environmental engineering firm) guessing his project has been squashed too. This waiting and not knowing is terrible!

[ontheway]

I pray that everything is well with him. I hope that you receive some information very soon. It is so frightening to read about the results and all. Trust God dear.

[ontheway]

I pray that everything is well with him. I hope that you receive some information very soon. It is so frightening to read about the results and all. Trust God dear.

[Heaven Sent]

Please keep us updated Katt. I will keep your dear friend in my prayers.

[mms72]

i hope you hear from him soon!


things like this really put things in perspective for you don't they?

Its just a terrible tragedy- and at least 1/3 of the dead are children-- they say a whole generation of their children have been wiped out in some areas. its just all sooooo sad.

Its like 1/2 of my town just dissapearing one day!

[Katt]

Thanks everyone, still no news.

[MotherLunsford]

CNN has a website where you can post an e-mail about missing loved ones.

We have been watching the disaster reports constantly, and the news just gets worse and worse.

BtB is bummed because our impoverished situation prevents him from volunteering to go over there and help (he does construction.)

God bless them all.

Mother

[Christy223]

Oh Katt, keep up informed. You just never know, do you? My prayers are with him!

[rene76]

any news?
~rene'

[Katt]

My Ex called his family and he is physically OK, his girlfriend is physically OK too but both are mentally not OK- he has lost his entire work crew of 30 people and his girlfriend has lost her entire family. They were away from Banda Aceh on that day, and now have just flown to Jakarta. He said he is just numb and cant begin to absorb what has happened. I am so releived he has survived and feel just sick for the people that were lost around him. He knew her family well.

[heartland]

I'm so happy they made it through this! It's all just so sad. :( It's hard to believe-much like the movies.

I did hear on the news today that they found a baby floating on a matress.....the baby was fine! :) I bet there will be a lot of adoptions....bless their little hearts!

[Katt]

I finally have heard from him directly, the phone cut out but we had a two minute conversation where he said he hasnt slept since the quake and waves hit but that they are safe in Jakarta and going to go back to Banda Aceh and try to see if they can find anyone as soon as they can get back on a plane. He said over 80% of all the houses are gone and everyone he knows there is gone, if they hadnt been out of town when it hit they would be gone too.

[Christy223]

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was somehow touched by this disaster! I just can't imagine what they are all going through......I am speakless! :(

[Katt]

I have talked to my ex Nig again today, he was flying back to Aceh from Jakarta with his girlfriend to search for the bodies of her family and his employees. He and his girlfriend had made a last minute decision to take a trip inland for the day, the quake hit less than an hour after they got on the road, they tried to head back but the road was blocked and damaged so they got to an airport and flew to Jakarta- they didnt even know about the wave until later that day. They are returning with some supplies. He said he wont have a way to contact anyone from Aceh as the phones etc are down but I should hear from him in a few days when he gets home to the UK or goes to Jakarta, he is not sure what he is going to do because he doesnt want to just leave his girlfriend but his work wont take the liability for him to stay and she doesnt have a entrance visa to go home with him. He has had contact with authorities in Aceh and everything is gone where he was living and they dont think there is a single survivor from his girlfriends family or his work crew of 30 (all indonesian) I am so glad he left for the day and wasnt home or he and his girlfriend would be gone too. He lived right by the water, just steps away. The wave that hit was 33 feet height and went inland several miles. He said pretty much everyone was killed if they were in a building because they all collapsed to rubble in the quakes and if they were within a few miles of the coast the wave washed everyone out to sea. The waters were over 60 feet deep on land. They are saying that 1 in 4 are dead in the entire aceh provence. The numbers are still going to jump much higher for the death toll in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia as they havent even reached some areas yet.
My ex is one of my very closest friends, we have emailed and talked almost daily after our relationship ended a few years ago- its killing me that he is going through all of this loss.

[Katt]

I have added info on how to donate to help victims on new post