Terror in an Indian Village

"Mercy Corps and its local partners are delivering lifesaving aid and assistance - and, most importantly, hope - to families who have lost everything." Photo: John Stephens/Mercy Corps.

On December 28, 2004, a Mercy Corps partner organization, the Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI), sent its tsunami relief team to the hard-hit village of Devanapatti in coastal India's Cuddalore district. Before the disaster, the village had a population of 300 families whose main livelihood was fishing.

Today, there is no village. What remains is the sea on one side and flat, wet, muddy land with heaps of destroyed houses on the other. The death toll is estimated at more than 400, but many more are still missing. Survivors are currently sheltered in small tents set up by local efforts.

Around 225 huts destroyed by the crushing waves belonged to the “Panchalpuram” caste that lives in this village. They are very poor and support their families by helping other fishermen collect fish, arrange fishing nets and lift heavy material in the burning heat and torrential rains. The wage that they receive is very low and is never fixed.

Shivsangri, from the “Panchalpuram” caste, lived in one of these tiny huts with her husband and two children. She is pregnant with her third child. Her family's meager wages depended on the amount of fish caught each day and the going market rates for fish. As a result, she was never able to save money.

Around 9 am on December 26, 2004, a towering wave of 30 feet suddenly deluged the village. Shivsangri saw the wave coming as she sat in her hut with her daughter Deepa (age 12) and son Akash (age 4). Immediately, she decided to run for the relative shelter of the nearby school building.

However, the rushing waves proved too much and subdued them before they reached the school. The tsunami drew all three of them into the sea and violently tossed them back on the sea shore. Shivsangri was trapped under some bushes as the heavy tides kept raging for hours.

When the waves subsided, villagers started coming back to the sea shore to help and found Shivsangri unconcious, yet alive. She was immediately taken to the school building she'd desperately tried to reach.

She lost consciousness again when she heard that her son and daughter were missing. She repeated, “My Family! My Family!” Only two members of the family survived: herself and her husband.

Families in India and throughout Southeast Asia are grieving, homeless and vulnerable. Mercy Corps and its local implementing partners are delivering lifesaving aid and assistance - and, most importantly, hope - to families who have lost everything. We will stand by them through every step of recovery and rebuilding.