The Aceh Tsunami

The Aceh Tsunami

The Aceh Tsunami of 2004 was a very great disaster in Indonesia that had made all people shock and sad. I was one of the victims who saw and heard all the horrible views of dead bodies, the scream of people who were dragged by the giant wave and the messed up houses.

It was an unusual Monday morning when me and my parents were having breakfast and sharing about many things we had lately. It seems that we had missed our togetherness until we decided not to do our daily activities or any hard works. We only stayed at home and spent time by watching TV. “This is a special Sunday. We are free from anything,” My father said. He was very unusual that day. My mother and I know exactly that he is a hard worker and it is so rare for him not to go somewhere.

Other unusual this was he ordered my servant, Inah, to go to her parents’ house in Anjun, which is not too far from my house. “Thank you so much, Sir!” said Inah happily after my father gave her some money for her. I was so happy to see her too because my father usually allows her to go somewhere only twice a month, but that December she had taken her two days off at the beginning of the month so she should have no chance to go that day.

That Sunday was full of happiness, laughter, and unusual moment until suddenly an earthquake of about the scale of 5 Richter happened in Aceh. I could predict the scale because the vibration inside my house was not so hard, although I was on the second floor at that time. But we still went out from my house to avoid if perhaps there was something fell down from my ceiling. All of my neighbors also poured the road but their faces looked usual because there had been several earthquakes before that.

After the light jolt was over, I went in to my house and continue watching TV with my parents. We watched a story about family which was funny but educated. We laughed a lot while also listening to the happy voices of children outside who were playing football.

Laughter and happiness covered Lamposeh until suddenly the voices of children which turned into loud scream surprised me. “Earthquake! Earthquake!” They yelled. A different earthquake fluctuated Aceh. That time I was sure that the scale was more than 5 Richter because I was shaken so hard on the sofa and all windows vibrated so fast that they produced very noisy sound. We began to be extra panic and we promptly came out from the house. All I saw were people who again poured the road and yelled the name of God.

Not only Jolt that we felt, but we also heard the sound of thundering. I didn’t know exactly where or what the source of the thundering was, but the situation really made everyone shock, confuse, and of course panic. The sound of thundering became louder and louder. Again, people yelled the name of God dramatically. I felt like I want to die because the noisy sound of many things that I heard really made me dizzy.

I came closer to my parents who were trying to calm an old lady down. She lived next to my house and her children were in vacation in Lambaroe, a place in Aceh which is located in the peek. After I saw that old lady, I couldn’t stand my sadness anymore. I had just watched a very happy story about family but I suddenly had to see and face the situation. I hugged my parents and the old lady tightly and together we prayed to God.

Everything went so fast that day. I was still outside my house to anticipate the earthquake when the very loud alarm was sounded from the mosque near my house. “Please go into your house and safe yourself in the higher place immediately! A very giant wave has swept Lampu’uk, Lhok Nga, and Ulele,” said the announcer. I quickly went in to my house with the old lady while my parents were asking as many people as they could to get into my house because I have large room on the third floor to safe people from the wave of Tsunami.

Not more than 15 minutes, the horrible view of huge wave was finally seen by all of us from the balcony on the third floor. My father recorded that view in order to save a documentation while keep saying the name of God slowly. There were many branches, trees, cars, parts of broken houses, and many people that were dragged by the high speed current. Sometimes I heard people scream “Help! Help!” but I only could close my ears and cried.

The sound of thundering was still heard. My neighbors who were evacuated in my house were crying and screaming hysterically. All they thought were of course families who were perhaps going somewhere and couldn’t safe themselves from the Tsunami.

While seeing the high speed current that began to rise up and covered all things on the ground, I remembered of Inah, my servant. I told my father that fortunately we had allowed her to go to her parents’ house. I didn’t know how her condition was, but at least she had met her precious family. It seemed that all unusual things we had before Tsunami was the clue from God. I couldn’t even imagine if we had gone somewhere we must have had swallowed by the water.

After the water of Tsunami rose down and the current didn’t go so fast anymore, my father stop his record and he led all people in my house to pray. He asked them to keep calm and think clearly what we better do next so we would not act irrationally.

Fortunately, I didn’t need to repair many things in my House after the Tsunami. We only needed to fix the color of the wall and clean all the things that were left when the water was rose down and the current stopped. However, my sadness about Aceh Tsunami in Indonesia will always be in my memory and I will always remember to thank God for God has given me a chance to be with my lovely family.