Tragedy in Penang, Malaysia

It was on a Sunday. I was out with my family members in the morning. We went in 2 cars as my relatives were out from Singapore. Went to town for breakfast in the morning and went certain places in town. After that, while on our way home, 1 of our cars went to Gurney Drive while another took the Tanjung Tokong road back to our home. When we reached home, we had to settle a few stuffs. So we took our time and after that went to a nearby shop to have lunch as it was lunch time. It was just behind our house. While we were eating half way, my mother had a phone call. It was her friend. He called to tell her about the news and what had happened in Batu Ferringgi where most of the hotels and resorts are. He told her that some people had drowned. There had been some tremors in certain places in penang due to the earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia. And due to the earthquake, huge tidal waves (Tsunami) were formed.

After talking to her friend, she told us about it while we were still having our lunch. Suddenly, we heard sirens from afar. Then, we saw 3 ambulans and a police car drove passed us. Moments later, we went back home and heard somemore sirens from afar. We quickly watched the latest news to learned more about what had happened. And more phone calles came in. They said that a few places had been hit by tidal waves. Places in Penang like Tanjung Tokong, Gurney Drive, Teluk Bahang and Batu Ferringgi. Then we were thinking..All of us just drove passed these 2 places. We were lucky enough. It was just less than an hour before it was hit by tidal waves. However, we saw the high tide. But it happens twice a month throughout the year. So it's kind of normal. These few places were tourists attractions and there were a lot of people because it was a Sunday and families went for picnics by the beach and for a swim. They didn't have any time to run for their lives as it came too quickly and some weren't aware of it.

My mother works in a hotel in Batu Ferringgi. She called back telling us that she saw 3 bodies by the road covered. And police were looking for more. Certain roads were blocked and there were massive traffic jams due to the road blocks. She said her friends told her that some bodies were found at Teluk Bahang. One of my neighbours told my aunt that they were on their way down from Batu Ferringgi and they saw lots of bodies covered and it was scary to even look at it. However, the more serious ones happened in other countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and etc..It's a sad thing....