Unit 2: The Tsunami

No, Ignesious did not realise a tsunami had struck when he felt the earthquake initially. He got up and carefully took his television set off its table and put it down on the ground so that it would not fall and break. Then the family rushed out of the house.

Ignesious’s family did not have any time to discuss and plan their course of action after the tsunami struck due to chaos and confusion. When the tremors stopped, they saw the sea rising. In the chaos and confusion, two of his children caught hold of the hands of their mother’s father and mother’s brother and rushed in the opposite direction.

In my opinion, the words that describe Sanjeev are brave, heroic and selfless.

(i) I don’t know if Sanjeev was cheerful, ambitious or humorous.

(ii) I think that he was very brave, heroic and selfless.

(iii) Sanjeev was not heartless, brash or careless.

Both Almas’ and Meghna’s families were swept away by the tsunami waves, and they were the only survivors in their respective families. Both of them floated in the sea for many days. Meghna spent two days floating in the sea, holding on to a wooden door and was brought to the shore by a wave. Similarly, Almas also climbed onto a log of wood and fainted. Later she woke up in a hospital in Kamorta and was brought to Port Blair thereafter. Both the girls were so traumatized by the incident that Meghna was found walking on the seashore in a daze, and Almas did not want to discuss the tragic incident with anyone.

Tilly could foresee that a tsunami had struck them. Seeing her frightened and hysterical, her parents understood that something serious was likely to happen. They took both their daughters away from the beach to the swimming pool at the hotel. Seeing them, a number of other tourists also left the beach along with them. Tilly also shouted to everyone around the beach to run for safety.

However, Tilly’s parents could have also reacted in a different manner by not paying heed to her frightened behaviour. If they had tried to calm her down, probably they would have got washed away along with the tsunami waves.

If I had been in a similar situation, I would have carefully listened to Tilly and realised that danger was approaching and immediately rush to the hotel by running away from the beach.

In my opinion, Tilly should have shared her award with her geography teacher, who made her aware of what a tsunami is and its various effects. Due to this awareness, she was able to save the lives of so many people.

Not many animals were killed by the tsunami because most of them have a sixth sense working in them. It is believed that animals know when the earth is going to shake. Some experts also believe that animals have an acute sense of hearing that helps them to hear or feel the earth’s vibration. They have the ability to sense an approaching disaster long before humans realise what’s going on and they are able to move to safer places.

Animals have a better sense of hearing and gut feeling, and this is scientifically proven that they can sense disturbances and hear low-frequency sounds which are not within the hearing range of humans. Although this sounds incredible, it’s true!