Tsunami victims appeal

[Steve Pyro]

Whilst we are wallowing in a post Christmas haze and the hassle of LM camping tickets, please give a thought for those who have lost their homes, their livelyhood, their loved ones or their lives following the Boxing Day earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

I know if I had had the opportunity over Christmas, I would have been scuba diving in Thailand !

Please call 0870 60 60 900 with your donation, or online at the Disasters Emergency Committee website (as broadcast by the BBC etc) at http://www.dec.org.uk/

Please be patient when visiting the web site as it is very busy.

[Bobblehat]

I echo your sentiments Mr Brown.

I was wondering if we as "Club Arnarge" could do somthing. There is I belive about 900 members. A £ 10 from each would be a start (and would go a very long way too).

[smokie]

I hadn't seen any serious footage of this until last night's TV special. The power of nature is awesome, and the scenes of devastation and personal loss over such a massive geographic area will stay with me for a long time.

Money will not solve all the problems, but it's the best most of us can offer.

Please support the appeal in whatever way you can.

[Mr Toad]

Yes - ditto that. I think it's going to touch most people in some way. I was due out diving in Phuket tomorrow. Hotel on Kata beach is no more. Heard about divers from 30m under getting spat out at hotels...Deeply depressing and reminder that as human beings we are by no means in control of the planet.

Trying to avoid anything in bad taste, but also to engender humour at a time of despair - some of the pictures of Patong look nearly as bad as Houx Annexe on a Monday morning in mid June!!

[The Planman]

Today here in Jersey is the 60th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of Red Cross Ship SS Vega which saved many from starvation during the occupation of the Channel Islands in WWII.  Major representatives from the Red Cross UK were due here to honour the Red Cross and the work they do.  Needless to say the celebrations have been affected by events in Asia and this Red Cross team are now out there helping.  Although most of us feel helpless, the idea of CA members giving a tenner is a great one.  I know it’s not all about the money but it has to start somewhere.  I would also proudly like to say, our island government has sent £500,000 to the appeal with the public donating money like mad.  Most of us here in Jersey have heard the stories about what life was like in the occupation of the Channel Islands, with out the help of the Red Cross, many would have died whether occupying forces or not.

Come on dudes, dig deep.

Sermon over…………………..

[Ruptured Duck Motorsport]

Did mine at the Red Cross site.   Very disappointed all that Mr Blair & Bush can rustle up is £30m between them, but yet manage billions for bloody Iraq.

[Matt Harper]

When I saw the title of this - and then noticed that one Steve Brown was the author, I thought, "Oh no, he wouldn't - he couldn't" - and then gingerly opened the thread, thinking, "Please, please don't let there be a pic of a puddle of water a la the storm story, with the blown-over lawn chair"
I was quite relieved to see it was deadly serious.
Apparently, two tectonic plates jarred against each other, moving about 2 feet along the respective length in the process. It doesn't take much to f**k everything up, does it?

[Dave H]

When I saw the title of this - and then noticed that one Steve Brown was the author, I thought, "Oh no, he wouldn't - he couldn't" - and then gingerly opened the thread, thinking, "Please, please don't let there be a pic of a puddle of water a la the storm story, with the blown-over lawn chair"

Ironically Matt, I had similar pangs when I saw your name as the last entry in the thread!  Opened it with lip under tooth...

[Fax]

Quite amazing what mother nature throws at us when she really gets hacked off.  Some truly bizzare sh*t came out of all of this.  With all of the human carnage, apparently very few animals bought it.  Some wildlife officials went to a great nature reserve expecting the worst only to find just a handfull of drowned animals, seem's that criters are a hell of alot smarter than we are at realizing when it's a good time to be getting out of Dodge.  On that note, did anyone hear about the three Brits who survived the impact of the waves and flood by climbing on to a floating refridgerater only to find themselves surrounded by swimming crocodiles, Jesus! talk about your day going to sh*t in a handbasket.
Fax

[Nordic]

This is a section of an email my brother & Le Mans Vet sent a few days after.

We are just so thankful he was not on the beach, I was pretty pissed off to be woken at 6am on boxing day, but in hindsight I will forgive him.

A friend of my wife is still trying to find her Brother, she is not even sure where he was on boxing day.

I know I will give my daughters an extra hug each night.


There was no earthquake or tremors just a tidal wave. I was woken by banging on my door and saying "problem with water....problem with water" Oh bother I thought, no shower. Sure enough just a token dribble from the shower and a few drips from the tap. Checking outside there was people moving enmasse inland. I sort of got an idea that there was some sort of flood so I joined the crowd.

One kind local who spoke quite good English told me and some other westerner's that there had been a tidal wave and more to follow, he kindly give us a lift in his 4x4. Just 12 in the back and about 6 in the cab. We then all sat perched on a hillside for a few hours in the very hot midday sun. As it was one of the big hotels also evacuated there and they had brought loads of water and food, which they gave out for free. The only info we had was various rumours, most seemed to say Bangkok had been hit by an earthquake and the tidal wave had hit Phuket. Also the town of Patong was under water. After a couple of hours and a phone call home I thought this was stupid as a lot of people were still out and about, plus the police were not directing people uphill anymore, so I walked back to collect my passport and documents, before returning with water and food on the scooter.

I stayed on the hill for another few hours, but this time a bit lower in a café where news was better. By the time I got back to my room it was about 6pm. One guy I was talking too was very lucky, he and some friends had booked a fishing trip for 8AM but due to Xmas day had drunk to much and missed the pickup. Had they not done so they would have been at sea at the time in a small boat. Unlikely to return.

Anyway yesterday I went to Patong, the worst hit place. There was mud and sand everywhere, shops gutted and debris everywhere. There was a coach in it's side, cars and 4x4's piled on top of each other, a speedboat 100 yards from the beach. They were still pumping sea water from basements, it was feared that more bodies would be found there. Patong is the main town for the sex industry and a lot of the girly bars along the front have gone. Very lucky it happened in the early morning. 3 hours later and the place would be packed with people until 2 AM.

[Andy Zarse]

One of our LM team, Chris (he of strange nocturnal activities), works for BAA at Gatwick. He says it's been sheer hell dealing with relatives trying to trace family and friends. One woman has been at the airport for three days hoping her son is going to turn up from the Maldives; as the days go by, the news does not look good.

Give generously.

[The Planman]

As most of us here at my work are pretty much glued to the news websites, it's difficult to think most of us will be partying the night away tonight to welcome the new year, and these people still have no idea where their loved ones are.

You never think of those, like that lady at Gatwick, its just, well............ gobsmacked.......... lost for words.

[ian murat]

the most enduring image is of the parents carrying their children which were shown in the first few days of the disaster.

The dignity which they showed is overwhelming

[Nordic]

JUST AS YOU wondered whether human nature could sink any lower, the spams start arriving requesting money for charities that don't exist.

These mails are designed to capitalise on the misery of hundreds of thousands of people affected by the tsunami that swept the coasts of the Indian Ocean early this week.

They invite you to donate funds into dubious bank accounts with dubious fake "charitable names".

So watch out for these dubious emails, and if you want to contribute, make sure you do so by giving to a recognised charity

[Ruptured Duck Motorsport]

Those sort of a**e holes deserve to be strung up.  Cashing in on this kind of disaster is sick at best.

Nuff said