How a Day at the Beach Killed 230,000 People in a Matter of Hours

This month we received…

10 year old Tilly Smith was able to recognize some telltale signs of a tsunami, before it hit the beach. What are tsunamis? Are they all deadly, capable of wiping thousands of lives? Do they just appear mysteriously, or is it natural to have tsunamis occur? How to tell if a tsunami will happen? Let’s get into it!

Sources:

[Tilly Smith]

[Boxing Day Tsunami]

[How Do Tsunamis Work?]

[Tsunami Warning Signs]

[Lituya Bay Tsunami]

[Other Sources]

[Brew’s intro song]
Manhattan Twist by Avocado Junkie

[Music Licensing]
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[Brew]

Thanks to Scentbird for sponsoring this episode!

[sharynhines]

My cousin was in Indonesia that day, she was on her honeymoon. She was feeling unwell so just wanted to relax. She went to the beach to rest on a deck chair. Her husband decided to go bike riding up in the hills. He saw the wave coming and rode as fast as he could to get to my cousin. He got to their hotel but it was too late for him to reach the beach. My cousin had started to feel really unwell and had gone back to the room to rest in the cool air conditioned room. He really thought he had lost her. They were both very fortunate that day.

[sunshinendrainbows]

This girl is a lesson in trusting yourself even when people who are supposed to know better tell you you're wrong

[Panda-cute]

What a brave child, continuing to insist even when adults thought she was wrong. I'm glad she was rewarded as she deserved!

[esomethingoranother]

It's crazy that the life guards did not know what it means when the water recedes that far from shore. That girl is incredible for having enough confidence to say what she knew and to stick with it even when they said she was wrong... Good for her!

[Jackuves]

I like how Tilly has possibly the best comeback now in a family argument “remember when I saved you all!!”

[stephenbrookes]

I remember a teacher of mine at primary school, telling us a story of a japanese man, who saw the ocean disappear. All the townsfolk stood on the shore watching the water recede. The elder man had seen this before. He knew what would happen next. A huge deadly wave. The only way he could warn the others was by setting fire to his crops. The townsfolk came to put out the fire saving them from the deluge.
In gratitude for the old man sacrificing his crops to save them, they shared their harvests with him.

[toxicdermyillunary]

As someone who live in the ring of fire, I don't get how people can be unaware enough not to think it's a calm before the storm. That girl deserved to be awarded for give awareness to those adults.

[notmyrrodrick]

literally the worst experiences i had as a kid were desperately trying to express something important, screaming until my face turns blue, jumping up and down trying to get somebody, anybody to listen to me, and being overlooked like I was invisible. One time, I was fully choking on a piece of bacon, couldn't breathe, I was hitting and shaking my mum, who was talking to my grandma, who was sat literally across from me. I was tugging and hitting her to get her attention, she yelled at me to stop without looking at me, and I, age 6, had to reach down my own throat, and pull out this long string of bacon. Literally almost choked to death.

[stickperson]

The thing that always bothered me about this story is that the little girl was the only one on the beach that knew the signs. The lifeguards didn't know the signs of a tsunami and it's their entire job to keep people on the beach safe

[alyssa]

Incredible that her own mother was in the most denial about her daughters knowledge. That’s really sad for a mother. You trust your child that little? Parents need to listen to their children.

[Necrikus]

As someone that's lived by the ocean for most of my life, I'm absolutely shocked that it took a child to recognize the signs of a oncoming tsunami and not one of the lifeguards or locals that should have been present.

Anyone who lives in places vulnerable to tsunamis should have also have been taught this stuff when they were that girl's age.

[tiziorodriguez]

I am amazed by how no one on that beach, except that child, knew about the warning signs of a tsunami... the shore receeding is quite a noticeable sign by itself. Living in a high risk region and not being taught such generic knowledge is a failure of the local school system. I live in Italy where there is no risk of tsunami or whatsoever, and yet I was taught about them in elementary school...

[-Raylight]

Even if they're kids, sometimes they know something that we don't. Adults shouldn't underestimated that

[zayaambrose]

Now imagine if her teacher didn't discuss that particular topic two weeks earlier, or if he did but Tilly missed it, or if she didn't follow her gut feeling. So many possibilities. Glad that she's got a good head on her shoulders and a brave heart.

[rozsheehy]

GOOD GIRL!! She saved SO many people!! And what a smart teacher to show his students that video!! It really was a horrible situation all around, but she put a little sunshine in the story. And she wouldn't quit until her family was safe!!!

[coffeewithextrasuga]

I had a lecturer once who said that I'll always trust whatever my kid tells me about natural disasters because it's the age when the children know best about what adults forgot.

[MistarZtv]

So wholesome even after all that she was grateful* still credits her teacher for the knowledge of saving her and everyone. He must've been a great stand up guy.

[jwalk]

There’s also a true story about a little boy about 7, his photographer father took him camping within the designated potential danger zone of my. Saint Helens before it’s eruption, so he could get some photos of the pre-eruption clouds and such. The boy, although not really understanding that volcanoes and his father reassuring him that they weren’t in any danger, claims he had a sense of impending doom, and started acting “hysterical”. Finally his father gave in and decided to take him home, but the minute they were outside of the danger zone the boy completely calmed down and agreed to camp overnight still just not in that first area. So they set up camp and waking early the next morning they saw that the volcano was about to erupt. As most people know it did indeed erupt and it covered all of that area around the lake completely. Which was exactly where they had set up camp the evening before. People need to give kids more credit. Not only are their memories and understanding of things they learn far more accurate than many adults, they also have very good natural instinct that adults tend to lose, plus they don’t have the ego which causes them to be afraid they might be wrong. Just believe them. It’s their life you need to protect as well and if they don’t trust you’ll listen to them when they’re afraid of something like this, they’ll never really trust you. And that’s far worse than acting on caution and being wrong.

[get]

That policeman in Bandah Aceh probably deserves a medal or two. From the description in this video, he saved quite a few people on that day.