First-hand account — tsunami almost killed me

Editor’s note: The following is an e-mail sent from Arjune Mirchandini to his father Rajan, a doctor in Clovis, and his brother Kush. The e-mail was received in Clovis on Monday and describes the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka and neighboring countries late Saturday.

Hey!

Well, I happened to get caught up in the tsunami that you’ve probably seen on TV. Last I heard, over 22,000 people died. I really should have been one of them.

Kimberly and I went to Southern Sri Lanka for Christmas and at 9:20 a.m., as we were eating breakfast, it hit with little warning. It was the scariest, most surreal experience of my life. Basically, it was a miracle that Kimberly and I are alive. More than half of the people staying and working at the hotel we stayed at died and the entire hotel was knocked down to nothing.

There was a lagoon behind the hotel we stayed at and that’s were we got pushed into with all the debris. Somehow, we swam over the waves as they hit, and at one point, I was about 15 feet under the water. All the cars got washed away, too. As I was getting pushed through the lagoon, the waves went through a tuff of trees, and I was able to climb the debris as it piled up, then the tree, and as I sat in the branch as I watched bodies, mud and debris flow under me. I thought that Kimberly had died, but she lived as well, having two close calls. Good thing she was on the swim team when she was young.

Anyway, after an hour and a half, and watching two more shock waves flow under me, I climbed down from the tree and swam to shore. I lost everything I had at the time, all my money, my clothes (besides my underwear amazingly), my car, my phone, camera, etc. There were locals picking up victims in their trucks and vans and we were able to ride a truck to the local hospital.

Hospitals here are not like in the states. It was understaffed; they had no equipment besides drugs and some beds. There were dead bodies everywhere, on the beds, on the ground, and lined up in the back. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the smell. Anyway, I walked away with only bruising, cuts from nails, metal, etc., smashed lip, and dislocated shoulder. I was definitely one of the lucky ones ... After that, we wondered outside with literally nothing, and a local invited us into his home, fed and clothed us, and cleared their bed so that we could stay the night. All throughout the night, there was tension since there was a rumor going around that there would be a 100-foot wave that would be following sometime that night. Also, all phone lines, trains, and power was cut. And the few gas stations that there were ran out of fuel, so neighbors were literally siphoning gas from their cars to share with their neighbors.

The next day, (today), we got in contact with one of his friends who drives a taxi, and they drove us back to the city (a six- hour drive) on only our word that we could pay them when we got here.

Anyway, it’s 3 a.m. right now, and I just got back (it was only $75 for a six- hour private taxi ride). Tomorrow, I’m going to a private hospital for a checkup and get all the vaccinations and shots that I need.

Anyway, I’ll write more later, and I’ll try calling tomorrow if the phone lines are back up (I think the phone lines in Columbo probably work)

Love,

Arijune