project rain

I am posting here an email sent by my friend who was in Penang when the disaster struck

I was in Penang and had to evacuate our hotel coz the whole buidling all 17 storeys SHOOK. Ry was white as a sheet. I thought it was all a joke till i realized it was serious and i was trying to get my garndma, walking stick and all, down the stairs. Said my prayers and just hoped. Some idiot in the hotel said it was a bomb - and thats what scared us.

Then things were cleared and we went on with our day. Had a lunch reservation at the E&O at 2.30 - got there on the dot and found the hotel closed as it had been struck by a tidal wave FIVE times -and at 2.20pm. The waves were the height of the buidling. If we had been 15 mins earlier, we would have been drenched, if not swept away. My grandma HOBBLES with a stick. Thank God everyone was calm and there was no pandemonium.

What was sad though was after the waves crashed the shore, all the Malaysian tourist where busy checking out of the hotel and running for their lives, while the foreign tourist where giving a helping hand in clearing the damange, helping the people and things like that. They even got their kids to chip in.

That last statement just saddens me. What have we become?

There is a blog dedicated in providing information, news, aid and volunteer resources. Go check it out. Give your helping hand. Click here

I also received a link about a video taken during the tsunami. Devasting. Click here(WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT, LARGE CONTENT,12MB)