Tsunami! from a few that survived

Purnama had barely gone a quarter of a mile before he saw a sight that burned itself in his memory. Coming down the street toward him was a crowd of people. A wall of waterborne debris, as high as the two-story buildings, was chasing the fleeing crowd. He stopped the cycle, and for a moment was frozen immobile at the incomprehensible sight.

Water? He heard the screams of the crowd. It did not look like water, but like a solid wave of cars, tin and timbers being forced toward him with enormous pressure. A solid wave, yet strangely liquid. Spouts of water gushed out through the wave of debris.

Purnama tried to turn his cycle, but the wave was too swift. He had barely begun to speed away when the water reached him.

With a wild leap, Purnama left his drowning cycle and clasped his arms around a coconut palm. He tried to climb up the pole-like trunk as dirty water swirled around his legs...

He had to climb higher! Water rushed toward him from two sides. Chunks of wood hit his legs. In a desperate attempt to escape the cascade of debris, he climbed higher on the tree. His fingers strained to keep his grip. A car came crunching past him and he swung his right leg away to keep from being ground by the bumper. The cries of others who had clung to the palm diminished, and Purnama saw two of them being swept away by the deluge. With labored breathing, he tried to work himself even higher. Oily water swirled around him, then suddenly he was up to his shoulders in water.

Oh, God! Please save me! If I die, take me straight home to you! The black water surged over his head and tore him from the trunk as it knocked over the tree. The force of the wave tore at his body. He felt himself tumble through the wreckage, his body battered and scoured by the debris...

For most people of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the cries of Water! reached them too late. Survivors tell their stories, some with sorrow and heartbreak, others with joy and hope. 16-page color photo section included