Unit 2: The Tsunami

Tilly Smith came with her family from South-East England to celebrate Christmas at a beach resort in southern Thailand.

Tilly and her family had already experienced a massive earthquake off northern Sumatra earlier in the morning of 26 December 2004. Her mother saw that the water was swelling and coming closer, and the beach was getting smaller and smaller. Meanwhile, Tilly also noticed that the sea slowly started to rise, foam and bubble and form whirlpools in it.

Tilly’s mother initially didn’t understand what was happening, but when she saw her frightened daughter hysterically screaming that it was a tsunami, she understood the seriousness of the condition.

Tilly had seen the sea behaving in the same strange fashion during her geography lesson when her geography teacher had shown her class the video and told them that tsunamis could be caused by earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides.

The Smith family and the others on the beach ran back and took refuge on the third floor of the hotel to escape from the tsunami. The building withstood the surge of three tsunami waves.

Tilly’s geography teacher must have felt very proud of her when she heard about what Tilly had done in Phuket. She was happy that because of her lesson and video, the young girl was able to save her family and the lives of many others by warning them of the tsunami waves.