Hope, Relief After Solomon Islands Tsunami
GIZO, Solomon Islands, April 7, 2007 — -- There are nearly 1,000 islands in the Solomon chain, and some are so remote that we were only able to reach them by private helicopter.
We visited Gizo, the island hardest hit by last week's quake and tsunami. Its beaches are now a tangle of debris and smashed homes. The scenes are so reminiscent of the devastating Asian tsunami that killed more than 250,000 in 2004.
When I arrived on the scene of that disaster, I spoke with men and women who told harrowing tales of survival after the waves crashed ashore. Many said they noticed animals behaving strangely just before the tsunami washed ashore.
In Gizo, we met Ricky Eddie and his wife Florence, who said they noticed the same thing. Shortly after the earthquake, they noticed that all the neighborhood dogs were running away from the sea.
"The dogs started running to the hills," Eddie told us.
He and Florence followed. Within minutes, a fast and powerful wave slammed into the coastline of Gizo and several other neighboring islands.
As initial reports of the earthquake and tsunami circulated around the world, the initial projections were grim. Some outlets reported a "30-foot-high wall of water" crashing ashore. Others claimed entire villages had been washed away. The world's aid agencies geared-up for another tsunami disaster, in one of the world's most isolated, and impoverished nations.
Yet, as it would turn-out, residents of the Solomon Islands were very lucky. Although at least 30 people were killed in the earthquake and tsunami, the wave was only a few feet high. As we were able to see from the helicopter buzzing along the coastline, the damage was confined to exposed beaches.
Tsunami awareness also helped save lives. When the quake first hit, most residents here knew that a tsunami was a real possibility, and they, like the Eddies, fled to higher ground. Many are still there.
Red Cross worker Suzie Chippendale traveled with us to Gizo. She says she was prepared for much worse.
The hospital had been severely damaged, with much of the island's medicine, including penicillin, left scattered in the sand. But, many of the injuries were treated in makeshift clinics on the ground. Five babies were even born a day after the tsunami hit.
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