Phone Call Saves Lives of Villagers
January 7, 2005
by Kevin Caruso
Most of the small village of Nallavadu, off the southeast coast of India, was destroyed by the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
But ALL of the villagers were able to escape with their lives.
Very few people who were in the areas hit by the tsunamis received a warning about the oncoming waves, but the villagers of Nallavadu were fortunate that a former resident,
Vijay Kumar, who had since moved to Singapore, heard about the tsunami and called to warn everyone.
"When it was announced that sea waves are rising and rushing to land, we ran away. In the waves all our homes, belongings and everything got washed away," said one resident.
"We were scared about seawater chasing us. We thought of saving our children and so we did not bother to save our belongings which were washed way in the tsunami waves," said another resident.
Although much of the village was devastated by the tsunami, not one person was injured or killed.
