A Second Changed Everything
It was the day after Christmas 2004. A split second changed everything for millions of people hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Without warning, great walls of water crushed the coastlines of 12 countries on two continents at speeds of up to 600 mph.
From the moment of impact, Catholic Relief Services was on the ground with our strong network of humanitarian relief and development partners, which has been in place throughout much of the area for the last 50 years. As the world was just learning of the devastation, CRS was already providing Sri Lankans with food, shelter, water purification supplies, rescue and recovery support. In India, CRS and our church partners provided food, medicine, clothing, sleeping mats and temporary shelter for survivors. We deployed a rapid response emergency team to the most devastated towns and villages of Indonesia — Aceh Selatan, Koya Sabang, Banda Aceh — and to the Nicobar Islands. In Thailand, we worked with church partners to bring emergency supplies and temporary shelter to poor fishing communities in 30 southern villages.
The scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was staggering. In the first year of CRS' tsunami response, roads were cleared, disease was minimized, people had enough to eat and a place to live. Yet a bulk of the work still lay ahead.
Total Number of People Missing: 49,695
Total Number of People Displaced: 2,041,252
| Indonesia | Sri Lanka | India | Thailand | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 131,934 | 31,229 | 12,405 | 5,395 |
| Missing | 37,066 | 4,093 | 5,604 | 2,932 |
| Displaced | 811,409 | 553,287 | 647,556 | 29,000 |
From various sources, including United Nations, World Bank and country governments.
Dave Murphy
As the images of the tsunami's destruction flashed on his television, Dave and his wife made a life-altering decision: Call CRS and offer his skills as a building contractor and engineer to help in the reconstruction process. By spring 2005 Dave had moved his entire family from Boston to Banda Aceh, where he now serves as manager of infrastructure, water-sanitation and shelter.
Frozen in time
A clock in the rubble is frozen at 9:26 a.m., the time on December 26, 2004, when the Indian Ocean tsunami ravaged this village in Galle, Sri Lanka. By noon that day, CRS and our partners were on the ground, providing lifesaving relief to thousands in India. In the days to come, CRS would launch one of the biggest humanitarian responses in our history.
