We reserve the right to close comments at any time. The Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 took everything away from her, except for the brand new Christmas dress 10- year-old Abirami was wearing. The tourist thanked Tilly and her geography lesson that had warned her. It is the UK's largest maritime charity and encourages young people to consider a career with the sea services. [14], "It wasn't devastation or death that won the day. Adrienne Arsenault had to go back to find out what happened to Abirami. Supermodel recalls how she survived the Asian Tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 – … Sadly, much of it was grieving men who often sat and stared at the Indian Ocean waiting to see if it would give them back their families. [1][2] Smith, who was ten years old at the time, had learned about tsunamis in her geography class. [1][8] At the official tsunami commemorations on the first anniversary of the tsunami held at Khao Lak, Thailand on 26 December 2005, she was given the honour of reading a poem to thousands of spectators. Tilly Smith (born 1994) is an English woman who has been credited with saving the lives of about 100 beachgoers at Maikhao Beach in Thailand by warning them minutes before the arrival of the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. The tsunami and its aftermath were responsible for immense destruction and loss on the rim of the Indian Ocean. [5][7], Asteroid 20002 Tillysmith has been named after her. And within a few days, there she was – 20-year-old Abirami. In 2004, the Belón-Álvarez family traveled to Orchid Resort Hotel in Khao Lak, Thailand for the Christmas holidays. Ten years ago, when the giant Boxing Day tsunami roared through the Indian Ocean, claiming over 230,000 lives, a CBC News crew found a little girl all alone on the beach in Sri Lanka. Comments are welcome while open. Author: Inquests into the deaths of 91 British victims and two foreign nationals, whose bodies were repatriated to the UK, were held at Olympia in … The truth was, though, that the dress was all Abirami Velai had left. On December 26, 2004, at 7:59 am local time, an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Tilly Smith is an English woman who has been credited with saving the lives of about 100 beachgoers at Maikhao Beach in Thailand by warning them minutes before the arrival of the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. What is Tsunami? But time has been soothing and the little girl in the Christmas dress is now a woman ready to make plans. Yet for all its ferocity, it paled in comparison to a much greater catastrophe which hit just five years ago. This page was last edited on 20 January 2021, at 17:19. If there was a large group of Christians who escaped the tsunami because of having hiked up a hill to celebrate Christmas, there has not been any other word of it. [6][7] She recognised the signs of receding water from the shoreline and frothing bubbles on the surface of the sea and alerted her parents, who warned others on the beach and the staff at the hotel in Phuket where they were staying. A British Boxing Day tsunami survivor has shared her experience of the horrific day that left her orphaned as a young girl. Smith learned about tsunamis in a geography lesson[3][4] two weeks before the tsunami from her teacher Andrew Kearney at Danes Hill School[5] in Oxshott, Surrey. To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). A promise kept. The Tsunami Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type. The 2004 Tsunami Wiped Away Towns With 'Mind-Boggling' Destruction The tsunami was the deadliest in recorded history, taking 230,000 lives in a matter of hours. It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. 'Bubbling sea' The tsunami killed at least 200,000 people in 13 countries. A 10-year-old British schoolgirl saved the lives of hundreds of people in South-East Asia by warning them a wall of water was about to strike, after learning about tsunamis in geography class, British media reported. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake) occurred at 07:58:53 in local time on 26 December, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.It was an undersea megathrust earthquake that registered a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 M w, reaching a Mercalli intensity up to … That is when we also met 10-year-old Abirami, dressed in a green and white dress, playing on the sand and collecting translucent bugs. She earns a bit of money cooking and cleaning for a family. The Asian tsunami on 26 December 2004 claimed the lives of 149 people who are British citizens or have close links to the UK, say police. Such a deceptively happy scene. Just this last September 30, we heard of major earthquakes measuring up to 8.0 on the Richter scale and the resulting tsunami which hit the coast of American Samoa. Wati was just eight years old when, on the day after Christmas 2004, the massive Indian Ocean tsunami swept her away from her mother and two sisters in Ujong Baroh, Aceh, on the island of Sumatra. Maria was badly wounded as she was dragged under water by the vast Indian Ocean tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. Tilly Smith, the 10-year-old British girl whose geography lessons helped her save 100 tourists from a Thai beach hit by last year's Boxing Day tsunami, has been named Child of … Answer: Tsunami is a very large and powerful wave caused by earthquakes under the sea. Footage of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. 10-Year-Old Girl Saved Lives During The 2004 Tsunami Because She Paid Attention In School But now, 10 years after the tsunami, we just had to find out what had happened to Abirami. They had been out at sea fishing, or out of the country working, while their wives and little ones stayed home. When the tsunami struck, no-one was killed on that beach. ", Smith's story is incorporated into many teaching resources for children about earthquakes, tsunamis and how to stay safe. Many people perished in waves up to two meters higher than normal sea level. With no warning system … So did the Rosta family of British Columbia. Like so many of Sri Lanka's poor she had been living in a shack between the tracks and the sea. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. The mum was with her two sons Blake and Lachie when the first tsunami hit on Boxing Day, 2004 She grabbed two-year-old Blake in her arms and held five-year-old … She remembers them, and they her, and all remember the panicky pit everyone felt that awful Boxing Day in 2004. It's been 10 years since the Boxing Day tsunami roared through the Indian Ocean. Smith's family declined requests to be interviewed by commercial and national broadcasters, but Smith appeared at the United Nations in November 2005, where she met the U.N. Special Envoy for Tsunami Relief, Bill Clinton,[1][11][12] and at the first anniversary in Phuket, as part of a campaign to highlight the importance of education. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. Sri Lankan child protection officials say they have found a six-year-old girl previously believed to have been lost or killed during the 2004 tsunami. We contacted a local charity called Community Concern that knew exactly where to look. Over the years, connections were kept up, more at first, then very few. Since joining CBC in 1991, her postings have included Vancouver, Washington, Jerusalem and London. This article lists the countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami in alphabetical order -for detailed information about each country affected by the earthquake and tsunami, see their individual articles.Countries with a smaller number of casualties, as well as those that lost citizens who were travelling abroad, are listed further on in the article. Ten years ago, model Petra Nemcova was hit by a tsunami while on vacation with her boyfriend in Thailand. We spent most of the day with Abirami, made connections with the charity that had helped support her over the years and promised to try to stay in touch. Stephen Stubbs , 58, from Partington, Greater Manchester. A German statesman, a Czech supermodel and a Swedish Olympic ski champion were among the vacationers whose search for peace and sun in … ... fetch the ball we had bought them on Christmas Day. What happened on 26 Dec, 2004? The Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 took everything away from her, except for the brand new Christmas dress 10- year-old Abirami was wearing. On the day after Christmas 2004, a horrifying tsunami swept across the Indian Ocean. By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. We watched them pick up bits of clothing, silently stare at mangled pieces of furniture tossed into the trees, surely wondering if what remained was really theirs. British girl saved hundreds from tsunami Sydney Morning Herald January 3, 2005. And she was collecting the bugs for food, not fun. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. She had won a number of awards. 2004 Tsunami: Petra Nemcova, the supermodel who survived the Boxing Day tragedy . "Tsunami lifesaver visits UN". His family said they were remaining positive. Question 1. On 9 September 2005 Smith received the Thomas Gray Special Award of The Marine Society & Sea Cadets from Second Sea Lord, Vice-Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent. Sometimes known as the Christmas or Boxing Day tsunami, the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami is far from a distant memory, a decade after resulting in more than 200,000 casualities. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. A powerful undersea earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra island, Indonesia, set off the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, also known as the Christmas or Boxing Day tsunami, on Sunday morning, Dec. 26, 2004. [13], In December 2005, Smith was named "Child of the Year" by the French magazine Mon Quotidien (a magazine targeted to young readers). Many thousands of men were left just to wander the beaches and ruined patches of land alone. Now, Adrienne Arsenault reconnects with a girl from Sri Lanka she met there in the days following the disaster. On the veranda of a beach hut, a little girl scrabbles beneath the Christmas tree for her present from Santa. Her investigative work on security has seen her cross Canada and pursue stories across the globe. Tilly received an award from the Marine Society. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. T he tsunami that followed the Indian Ocean earthquake on 26 December 2004 was one of the worst natural disasters on record, killing almost 250,000 … The magnitude 9.1 quake ruptured a 900-mile stretch of fault line where the Indian and Australian tectonic plates meet. Struck Thailand, Indonesia and several other Asian countries killing 280,000 people. Question 2. ... by rising British … Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, tsunami that hit the coasts of several countries of South and Southeast Asia in December 2004. Smith was educated at Danes Hill School, an independent school in the village of Oxshott in Surrey, followed by Stowe School, a boarding independent school in the civil parish of Stowe in Buckinghamshire. Emmy Award-winning journalist Adrienne Arsenault co-hosts The National. (5 November 2005). [1][8][14][16], "Girl, 10, used geography lessons to save lives", "Tilly Smith, Kamome and having 'the talk' with your children", "From Fear to Survival: Knowledge Is Key", "British schoolgirl hero meets President Clinton: "All children should know what a tsunami is... and how to react," says Tilly Smith", UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tilly_Smith&oldid=1001649321, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.