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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Tsunami Warning Was Stopped |
| 2004-12-29 |
| Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Sunday morning, Thailand's foremost meteorological experts were sitting together in a crisis meeting. But they decided not to warn about the tsunami "out of courtesy to the tourist industry", writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation. The experts got the news around 8:00 am on Sunday morning local time. An hour later, the first massive wave struck. But the experts started to discuss the economic impacts when they were discussing if a tsunami warning should be made. The main argument against such a warning was that there have not been any floods in 300 years. Also, the experts believed the Indonesian island Sumatra would be a "cushion" for the southern coast of Thailand. The experts also had bad information; they thought the tremor was 8.1. A similar earthquake occurred in the same area in 2002 with no flooding at all. ...We finally decided not to do anything because the tourist season was in full swing. The hotels were 100% booked full. What if we issued a warning, which would have led to an evacuation, and nothing had happened. What would be the outcome? The tourist industry would be immediately hurt. Our department would not be able to endure a lawsuit... |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 The Tsunami Center guys in Hawaii have to make this same call every few weeks - and for the vast majority of occurrences make the same precise calculations these guys made and the same call. The old NFL offensive lineman's lament popped into my head: "The only time you hear my name or number is when I screw up." |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-29 8:27:36 PM |
| #6 Expert. Phonetically, "ex" + "spurt." Literally: a former drip under pressure. |
| Posted by: Asedwich 2004-12-29 8:23:22 PM |
| #5 But they decided not to warn about the tsunami "out of courtesy to the tourist industry", writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation. PC claims more lives!! News at eleven!!.......er, maybe not. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-12-29 3:30:20 PM |
| #4 tu, that's my nominee for comment of the year. |
| Posted by: VAMark 2004-12-29 2:27:04 PM |
| #3 Roosevelt knew. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-12-29 11:41:59 AM |
| #2 If these guys are the "experts", what would the stupid people have done? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-12-29 11:17:43 AM |
| #1 Our department would not be able to endure a lawsuit... Ah, so it wasn’t corruption after all, but something more insidious, lawyers and lawsuits! Of course, it probably doesn’t matter that the waiver of sovereign immunity for a Thai agency only extends to the agency as a party to a commercial contract. Damn the lawyers, deflect the blame . . . Could it just be a case of terminal stupidity? Nah! //sarcasm off// |
| Posted by: cingold 2004-12-29 10:44:14 AM |