Dead bodies are lying on the ground because there is no one to pick them up – there are too many. And quite honestly, would you rather they take care of the injured or the dead first? There’s no drinking water because the ocean saltwater got into the wells. Diarrhea and cholera will spread because many of these people don’t have clean drinking water.
Negombo is a fishing village north of Colombo. Their boats are beached helter skelter or submerged at odd angles in six or ten feet of water. Their economy is destroyed until they can build or repair the boats.
One hospital was submerged by an eight food wave – there goes that.
Only 75% of areas have electricity restored. They’re having difficulties with the other areas. Keep in mind that only 2/3 of the country had electricity prior to the tsunamis.
Land mines from the civil war were dislodged by the tidal waves, causing major problems for rescue efforts and recovering dead bodies.
I see footage of rivers with dead bodies floating down it. Dead bodies lined up in hallways, some covered in plastic, others not, all waiting for identification or burial. School buses, the big ones, littering the beach like tinker toys. Fishing boats scattered across the beach and in the water, some on their sides, some stuck in one end or the other, others stacked on top of each other. Many listing to one side or the other. People walking around with their dead children in their arms, others begging for help finding their family. Rubble everywhere. Can’t tell if it belonged to a house, a hut, or an office building or store. Vehicles sitting at odd angles in feet of mud. People – lots of people- bringing food, clothing, and other household goods to collection depots. Mountains of donated goods waiting to be sorted and distributed.
