His name is Harmi, 31 yrs old, from Kampung Belakang, Meulaboh.Sunday morning that day (26/12), after the earthquake I went to the beach with hundreds of other villagers. People came flocking to see the ebb tide. Yes, I saw the ebb tide until about 1 km.・He told Acehkita, Monday (9/1).
Many villagers dazzled to see the natural phenomenon, which they had never seen before. Many adults and children even struggled to catch the wriggled fishes on the sand, which previously was at the bottom of the sea.
Almost half an hour people were struggling to catch the fishes, suddenly “Oh my God” here was a thundering sound from the sea. I saw the rolls of the waves 10 m high from a distance. At that time, people were beginning to be panicky and then ran away,・he added.
With all of his strength, Harmi tried to run to their village. At that time, he still saw many people fell to the ground and had difficulties to rise up. The children who were previously catching the fishes also looked panicky. When he turned around, the rolls of the 650 km/h waves were getting closer, sweeping everything, which blocked their way.
Harmi was lucky. Although he fell 3 times, he kept running and then reached the village. As he was panicky, he entered any house. The house had permanent wall.・I thought, I must be safe there because it was stonewall,・he said.
The water kept smashing away and even stronger and higher. Feeling unsafe, he climbed the ceiling. He broke the asbestos・house, climbed his way up to the roof. My hands were wounded,・he said while showing his dried wound. There were many people at the roof.
The water was getting higher.
Help..help..help..,・screamed a person who was dragged in the middle of the thundering water. But he could do nothing except cry in fear. During 31 years he lived there, never had he seen water that high.
The water was getting even higher.
As long as I remember, the waves came 3 times. The worst was the second one, which swallowed thousands of houses in our village,・he said. Afraid of getting dragged, this skinny man then moved to another higher house.
From there, he recorded all the miserable views. The flood dragged many people but they could not swim because they stuck to the wood and other building materials.
Several hours later, the water was eventually lower. Felt safe, Harmi went down and looked for his brothers who were separated when they ran away. Then I went to Mesjid Agung because many people gathered there.・
He was lucky his 2 brothers were still alive and were in Mesjid Agung. That night, they slept in the house, which was safe from tsunami. The corpses were still scattered all over the place. Hungry, the single man tried to look for the food to the devastated shops. Lucky we could find biscuits and noodles. Those are the only things we ate for 2 days,・he added.
Wednesday (29/12), The food aid came, we heard from a soldier that Medan had the same disaster. That why we understand why the aid came slowly.・
Still feeling traumatic, Harmi and his family evacuated to Medan using land transportation. Because he had no relatives in Medan, they joined the other refugees at Posko Perkumpulan Tolong-Menolong at Jalan Metal IV Medan .It better here, because we meet more people and it is far from my village,・he added.
Now his only hope is the government aid. heard that every family who had been the disaster victim would receive Rp. 15 million. Is that true?・he asked acehkita.
If the government rebuilds their house, Harmi still wants to return to Meulaboh. If not, I will not return. I have nothing there. Please, tell this to our government,・he said. (dan)
By: Denny F - Acehkita.Com
