Tsunami [OT]

[Trantor]

I don't know anyone who was touched by this tragedy, not even anyone who knows anyone who was touched by this tragedy. We are quite removed from it. The numbers are so large that it becomes hard to grasp. Still, many of my friends are making donations to relief organizations in the triple digits.
I hate to make it sound like a competion, but most of them are not rich by any means. Still, we all realize that this Tsunami was really bad. Anything anybody can do to help, they should.
This is a US government web site, a list of relief orgs:
http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_...i/ngolist.html

[bearclaw]

My wife's father lives in India and was hit by the waves. He's originally from England and is your sterio-typical high-class Englishman. After he retired from being a Computer Engineer (origially worked on developing the Main-Frame Computer), he decided that India was the place he wanted to live. His first choice was Sri Lanka but they don't allow immigrants. He build a house right on the beach on the east coast of India.

Luckily, he built his house to western standards and it's nearly all concrete and brick. He saw the wave coming and knew that they could not get away in time. By the time he saw the wave it was about 6 meters (18 feet) when it crashed. Him and his wife went to the second floor of their house and simply waited for the water to receid. Except for some electrical outlets on the ground floor, apparently their house survived with minimal damage. The rest of the village they live in, however was not so lucky.

I've attached pictures of their house before and after the wave hit.