Tsunami victims not warned because of tourism woes

[mogster]

Warning rejected to protect tourism

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2004/12/28/headlines/index.php?news=headlines_15908069.html

Published on December 28, 2004

Minutes after the earthquake hit northern Sumatra at 7.58am on Sunday, officials of the Meteo-rological Department, who were at a seminar in Cha-am, convened an emergency meeting chaired by Supharerk Tansrirat-tanawong, director-general.

They had just learned that the Bangkok office had reported a quake measuring at 8.1 on the Richter scale, which was much lower than the level officially recorded later.

“We didn’t think there would be subsequent seismic waves, because a similar quake of 7.6 on the Richter scale, which hit Sumatra on November 2, 2002, did not affect Thailand,” said a member of the department who asked not to be named.

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[Walt Starr]

1. Typical

Money rules governmental decisions. Corporations seem to be supercitizens in all nations these days.

[mogster]

3. Yeah, ain't that true?

I dub it Patriarchal Businexin (Diagnosis Neoconservativa), a kind of drug that makes you so numb that when you are forced to make quick desicions like this, you always assume a defensive position of 'wait and see' instead of putting priority for life and limb up front.

Sadly, it has backfired on them--this must be the most serious blow to tourism in the area ever, worse than any terror attack could be.

[Liberty Belle]

4. How soon til the rich tourists' survivors file the first lawsuit?

[aquart]

2. How many rich tourists died?

How long before a tourist will touch one of those beaches?

Amazing what you lose when you toss trust.

[DainBramaged]

8. More will be counted when the missing are declared dead

Britain: 17
Italy: 13
United States: 11
France: 10
Germany: 10
Switzerland: 9
Australia: 8
Sweden: 6
Poland: 4
Austria: 5
Japan: 4
South Korea: 4
South Africa: 4
Denmark: 3
Brazil: 2
Netherlands: 2
Belgium: 2
Finland: 2
Colombia: 1
Taiwan: 1
New Zealand: 1

[aquart]

9. Not necessarily "rich."

In western terms, anyway.

Maybe when the multimillion dollar beachfront property goes. Maybe they'll pay attention then.

[uppityperson]

5. Warning was sent, link to article

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=9004878

Asia deaf to danger alarms

29.12.04

Scientists knew in advance that southern Asia was going to be hit by a tsunami, but attempts to raise the alarm were hampered by the absence of early-warning systems in the region.

Within 15 minutes of Sunday’s earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii had sent an alert to 26 countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, but struggled to reach the right people. Television and radio alerts were not issued in Thailand until 9am local time - nearly an hour after the waves had hit.

"We tried to do what we could. We don’t have any contacts in our address book for anybody in that particular part of the world," Charles McCreery, director of the centre, said yesterday

[slutticus]

12. Damn. That must have been so frustrating for the people...

...trying to alert them.


I can't imagine trying to warn of the impending death of thousands with the warnings falling on deaf ears.

[riverwalker]

13. "no contacts in our address book" WTF???

"We tried to do what we could. We don’t have any contacts in our address book for anybody in that particular part of the world," Charles McCreery, director of the centre, said yesterday"

Why didn't they contact CNN International? It's carried throughout Asia!! Why not the Internet? Wny not all major wire services???

[uppityperson]

6. However, politics play a part

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=9004829

LOS ANGELES - The major obstacles to creating an early-warning system that could have saved many victims of Asia's massive tsunami are not money and technology, but poverty and political and cultural division besetting the region it hit, experts and officials said on Monday.

The wall of water that killed more than 23,300 people in coastal villages in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka was tracked by US seismologists who said they had no way to warn local governments of the danger.

The tsunami was spawned by the most powerful earthquake in 40 years, which struck off the Indonesian coast an hour before the tsunami made landfall on Sunday. US officials tried frantically to warn the deadly wall of water was coming, but there was no official alert system in the region.

[scottxyz]

7. Looks like governments aren't the most efficient at many tasks these days

The web can spread news far more efficiently than any government.

The news would have probably gotten out faster if they'd notified some bloggers.

[aquart]

10. You're right. So why didn't we think of it?

I'm pretty sure Hawaii has the internets.

Here's a thought, genius scientists: if you can't locate the local governments, CONTACT THE WESTERN EMBASSIES IN THE REGION!!! When the tourists start running for cover, maybe everybody would catch a clue?

How about informing, I dunno, THE WIRE SERVICES???? Like AP, Reuters, any you can happen to think of...?

They had HOURS. Those beaches could have been empty.

[mogster]

11. That's a good point

The word spreads faster through the hub of the grapewine than by governmental 'structured' information campaigns (through the MSM), because the people has a natural urge to tell the community, and less concern for the consequenses of telling.

I never look to the MSM any longer to get updated, at least not in politics ;-)

[damntexdem]

14. Well, here's what they can say to the families of the dead:

"oops."