quote:Originally posted by Auburn Annie:
I guess it depends which side of Sri Lanka Maheen was staying on. The tidal wave hit the east coast. There was a brief article on CNN that Oprah's frequent guest, Nate Berkus (the design guy) was vacationing there with a friend - he survived but his friend was washed away with the second wave as they clung to a telephone pole and is missing.
Anyway we can't expect to hear from Maheen for a while if he's still with us because of the chaos, downed power lines, etc. Horrendous.
The loss of life might have been minimized if they'd had early warning monitors out at sea, as some nations do. An international, Pacific-wide network of earthquake-sensitive seismographs, sea-level monitors and satellites produces tsunami alerts for member nations - but sometimes these things move so fast that even with warning, officials can't clear the areas in time. And there are always gawkers who get literally caught up.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Maheen and his family....
PS I tried emailing Maheen, in the faint, if unlikely, hope that he had email access in Sri Lanka but it was returned with the message "The user(s) account is temporarily over quota."
I guess a lot of folks are trying to contact Maheen. If I hear, I'll let everybody know.
[This message has been edited by Auburn Annie (edited December 27, 2004).]
I spoke to Maheen before he left. He didn't take his cell phone or his laptop. Cell phone coverage and Internet connection is very poor.
I can't seem to get the kid off my mind. I'm at work, and I'm absolutely useless. My train of thought has been derailed.
Cathy
http://www.cathycowette.com