Tsunami

 TSUNAMI Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning is harbor wave. A tsunami is a series of huge that occur after undersea disturbances such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The waves travel in all directions from the area of disturbances. These waves can be as high as 50 feet or more. They may attain speeds of over 750 km/ h. In 1970, a tidal wave and cyclone struck Bangladesh killing about 2, 00,000 people. The tsunami that hit the coasts of India and some other countries on the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 killed near 3,00,000 people and made thousands of people homeless.

What was unusual about the Tsunami was that it simultaneously and without any warning, affected several countries and populations. India was the third most-affected country after Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Without recourse to international assistance, India has been able to respond adequately to the disaster, which damaged the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry and the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. On the Indian mainland, Tamil Nadu was the worst affected state with official death tolls placing the dead at more than 8000 people. It is estimated that nearly 76 percent of those killed on the mainland were from the southern district of Nagapattinam, the worst affected in India.

The devastation in Nagapattinam has severely affected about 80 villages. Many more have faced damage in varying degrees. Fishing villages dominate this coastal district and nearly 70 percent of the severely affected villages are fishing villages. Akkarapettai and Keechankuppam have been the most badly affected villages in Nagapattinam with over a 1000 affected families. In many villages, the loss of life was estimated by the number of bodies recovered rather than those dead, as the sea swept people off one coast and washed their bodies up a different shore.

By
Rushalli