The Terror of Information, and Lack of It

Evelyn Rodriguez writes a sobering account of living through the Tsunami on the small Thai island of Phi Phi:

This may seem hard to believe unless you've been reading lots and lots of news reports, but in many places villagers are still terrified. When what was a tranquil sea swallows up people, homes and long-tail boats mercilessly without warning and no one can tell you anything reliable about whether another one is coming, I'm not sure you'd want to come down either.

One of the scariest things about the tsunami that I've not seen mentioned is the complete lack of information.

…No, the Internet is not everywhere. No, television is not everywhere. In fact, electricity is not everywhere - many of the islands we were on prior to the tsunami were generator-dependent after sundown (and that's mainly for the foreigner's benefit).

…The kind of information that might be useful sometimes is simple. Sometimes technology isn't the only solution. A ten-year-old British girl whom had recently studied tsunamis in geography class warned a beach full of people and saved countless lives.

I suggest you read the post in its entirety. (Hat Tip to World Changing for yet another incredible link.)