Indonesia Had No Way of Warning Islanders (Death toll now at 339)

[theHandpuppet]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INDONESIA_TSUNAMI?SITE=OHCIN&SECTION=AMERICAS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Jul 18, 8:04 AM EDT
Indonesia Had No Way of Warning Islanders

By ANTHONY DEUTSCH
Associated Press Writer

PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (AP) -- Within minutes of the earthquake, regional tsunami centers warned it had the potential to send a deadly wave speeding toward Indonesia. But the country had no way of passing the information onto those in its path until it was too late.

Indonesia was the worst hit by the 2004 tsunami, and Monday's disaster shows how unprepared the sprawling island nation remains in dealing with the threat of tsunami triggered by the awesome seismic forces that lie beneath it.

Most people at this devastated beach resort did not feel the 7.7-magnitude earthquake and few noticed the ocean receding - a typical phenomenon before a tsunami - because the tide was already low and the effect was not especially pronounced, local residents and tourists said Tuesday.

"The police and local officials did not give us any warning whatsoever about the tsunami," said Supratu, a fisherman. "Suddenly this big wall of water appeared and I started screaming and running."

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[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. Absolutely pathetic.

Is Michael Chertoff running their tsunami warning system?

[Ghost Dog]

2. Better to apply the Cuban model

to these requirements and circumstances.