On 20th anniversary of world’s worst tsunami, experts warn of complacency
Al Jazeera
More than 227,000 people were killed in the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and experts warn it could happen again.
The pain is still fresh as Cut Sylvia recalls the last time she looked into her two-year-old daughter’s eyes.
It was a normal morning in the Indonesian coastal city of Banda Aceh in north Sumatra when Sylvia and her husband began to see people fleeing in front of their home, warning of oncoming sea water.
Holding her infant daughter, Siti, in her arms, it was a matter of minutes before Sylvia was overwhelmed by the waves inundating their home.
“I cannot describe that moment when I saw her eyes, and she saw my eyes, and we were staring at each other,” Sylvia told Al Jazeera.
“She was not even crying or saying anything. She was just staring at me. I knew that we would be separated,” she said.
