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Tsunami Picture?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by YachtForums, Jan 24, 2005.

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  1. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    Clearly some extravagant digital manipulation in this photograph...

    I was wondering if there are any "real" pictures of the actual tsunami that have surfaced on the Internet. Most of the video that television news channels have shown has been rising waters, that aren't moving with much speed. I would have expected the level of destruction seen in the aftermath of the tsunami was a result of "impact"... not tidal surge.

    Does anybody have any wisdom to share on the subject?

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  2. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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  3. AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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    I am sure there are many more than me that can fill in information on this, but what I think is the most amazing is that out on the open sea, you dont even see the Tsunami. It comes as an inch high wave at a speed of a Jumbojet and not until it comes on shallow waters it starts to build up. Depending on the depth close to shore it might not even then be high, but with the massive pressure behind it just continues, sometimes for miles inland. The live pictures from when it hit the streets of Banda Aceh can not even be animated, the most powerful flood I have ever seen...
  4. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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  5. AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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    This video was by a Swedish guy who survived, taken in Thailand and not Taiwan as the headline says. Many thousands were killed there, among them about 780 Swedes, but Indonesia was worst hit since they had both the Earthquake 9 and the Tsunami. Together there are now accounted for 300.000 people killed and more than a million homeless, so the impact of this Tsunami can not be underestimated...
  6. Jaye Thirteenth

    Jaye Thirteenth New Member

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    There is a site here with pictures and stories from boaters who survied the storm. If you are on a slow internet connection, be patient because they have them all on one page and it takes a couple minutes to load. But its some interesting reading if you have the time:

    http://www.yachtaragorn.com/Thailand.htm

    -Jaye
  7. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    The Tsunami REALLY is a disaster...

    Came across this in an e-mail, thought some of you might find it of interest...
    ~Carl

    Guest Column: No Relief in Sight for USS Lincoln...

    By Ed Stanton

    It has been three weeks since my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln,
    arrived off the Sumatran coast to aid the hundreds of thousands of
    victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged their coastline. I'd like
    to say that this has been a rewarding experience for us, but it has
    not: Instead, it has been a frustrating and needlessly dangerous
    exercise made even more difficult by the Indonesian government and a
    traveling circus of so-called aid workers who have invaded our
    spaces.

    What really irritated me was a scene I witnessed in the Lincoln's
    wardroom a few days ago. I went in for breakfast as I usually do,
    expecting to see the usual crowd of ship's company officers in
    khakis and air wing aviators in flight suits, drinking coffee and
    exchanging rumors about when our ongoing humanitarian mission
    in Sumatra is going to end.

    What I saw instead was a mob of civilians sitting around like they
    owned the place. They wore various colored vests with logos on the
    back including Save The Children, World Health Organization and the
    dreaded baby blue vest of the United Nations. Mixed in with this
    crowd were a bunch of reporters, cameramen and Indonesian military
    officers in uniform. They all carried cameras, sunglasses and fanny
    packs like tourists on their way to Disneyland.

    My warship had been transformed into a floating hotel for a bunch of
    trifling do-gooders overnight.

    As I went through the breakfast line, I overheard one of the U.N.
    strap-hangers, a longhaired guy with a beard, make a sarcastic comment
    to one of our food servers. He said something along the lines of
    "Nice china, really makes me feel special," in reference to the fact
    that we were eating off of paper plates that day. It was all I could
    do to keep from jerking him off his feet and choking him, because I
    knew that the reason we were eating off paper plates was to save
    dishwashing water so that we would have more water to send ashore
    and save lives. That plus the fact that he had no business being there
    in the first place.

    My attitude towards these unwanted no-loads grew steadily worse that
    day as I learned more from one of our junior officers who was
    assigned to escort a group of them. It turns out that they had come to
    Indonesia to "assess the damage" from the Dec. 26 tsunami.

    Well, they could have turned on any TV in the world and seen that the
    damage was total devastation. When they got to Sumatra with no plan,
    no logistics support and no five-star hotels to stay in, they threw
    themselves on the mercy of the U.S. Navy, which, unfortunately, took
    them in. I guess our senior brass was hoping for some good PR since
    this was about the time that the U.N. was calling the United States
    "stingy" with our relief donations.

    As a result of having to host these people, our severely over-tasked
    SH-60 Seahawk helos, which were carrying tons of food and water
    every day to the most inaccessible places in and around Banda Aceh, are
    now used in great part to ferry these "relief workers" from place to
    place every day and bring them back to their guest bedrooms on the Lincoln
    at night. Despite their avowed dedication to helping the victims,
    these relief workers will not spend the night in-country, and have
    made us their guardians by default.

    When our wardroom treasurer approached the leader of the relief group
    and asked him who was paying the mess bill for all the meals they
    ate, the fellow replied, "We aren't paying, you can try to bill the U.N.
    if you want to."

    In addition to the relief workers, we routinely get tasked with
    hauling around reporters and various low-level "VIPs," which further
    wastes valuable helo lift that could be used to carry supplies. We
    had to dedicate two helos and a C-2 cargo plane for Dan Rather
    and his entourage of door holders and briefcase carriers from
    CBS News. Another camera crew was from MTV. I doubt if we'll get any
    good PR from them, since the cable channel is banned in Muslim
    countries. We also had to dedicate a helo and crew to fly around the
    vice mayor of Phoenix, Ariz., one day. Everyone wants in on the
    action.

    As for the Indonesian officers, while their job is apparently to
    encourage our leaving as soon as possible, all they seem to do in
    the meantime is smoke cigarettes. They want our money and our help but
    they don't want their population to see that Americans are doing far
    more for them in two weeks than their own government has ever done
    or will ever do for them.

    To add a kick in the face to the USA and the Lincoln, the Indonesian
    government announced it would not allow us to use their airspace for
    routine training and flight proficiency operations while we are
    saving the lives of their people, some of whom are wearing Osama bin Ladin
    T-shirts as they grab at our food and water. The ship has to steam
    out into international waters to launch and recover jets, which makes
    our helos have to fly longer distances and burn more fuel.

    What is even worse than trying to help people who totally reject
    everything we stand for is that our combat readiness has suffered
    for it.

    An aircraft carrier is an instrument of national policy and the big
    stick she carries is her air wing. An air wing has a set of very
    demanding skills and they are highly perishable. We train hard every
    day at sea to conduct actual air strikes, air defense, maritime
    surveillance, close air support and many other missions – not to
    mention taking off and landing on a ship at sea.

    Our safety regulations state that if a pilot does not get a night
    carrier landing every seven days, he has to be re-qualified to land
    on the ship. Today we have pilots who have now been over 25 days
    without a trap due to being unable to use Indonesian airspace to train.
    Normally it is when we are at sea that our readiness is at its very
    peak. Thanks to the Indonesian government, we have to waive our own
    safety rules just to get our pilots off the deck.

    In other words, the longer we stay here helping these people, the
    more dangerous it gets for us to operate. We have already lost one
    helicopter, which crashed in Banda Aceh while taking sailors ashore
    to unload supplies from the C-130s. There were no relief workers on
    that one.

    I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but it is time to give this
    mission to somebody other than the U.S. Navy. Our ship was supposed
    to be home on Feb. 3 and now we have no idea how long we will be here.
    American taxpayers are spending millions per day to keep this ship
    at sea and getting no training value out of it. As a result, we will
    come home in a lower state of readiness than when we left due to the lack
    of flying while supporting the tsunami relief effort.

    I hope we get some good PR in the Muslim world out of it. After all,
    this is Americans saving the lives of Muslims. I have my doubts.
    Ed Stanton is the pen name of a career U.S. Navy officer currently
    serving with the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.

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