SUNGAI PETANI: Fireman Anwar Zaini Zakaria was at the Perai fire station, Butterworth, when his superior summoned him and others to assist with an emergency on the island.
A powerful wave had struck the coastline along Batu Ferringhi. It was Dec 26, 2004, the day of the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami.
At that point, no one knew about the magnitude of the tragedy but a sense of dread hit Anwar. He wondered about his family, who were living in a riverside village in Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah.
He immediately called home, only to be told that his house had already been flooded.
Just as he was preparing to leave the station, a second, more devastating wave hit the coasts, wreaking havoc particularly at Miami Beach in Batu Ferringhi and Pantai Pasir Panjang in Balik Pulau.
Anwar kept calling his son but there was no answer.
He knew then that something terrible had happened to his family.
Eventually, he learnt that the tsunami had swept away his sister-in-law Normah Ahmad. Her body was recovered days later.
“At the time, I didn’t understand anything about tsunamis. All I knew was that my house was swept away by the waves.”
Anwar sought permission from his superior to rush home.
When he arrived at Kota Kuala Muda, all he saw was chaos and widespread panic.
He made his way to the search-and-rescue operation centre and found that his family members were safe.
“I decided to stay here to help the other rescue agencies after securing approval from my superior,” Anwar, who is now 62.
He served in the Fire and Rescue Department for over 35 years before retiring in 2022.
Mosque bilal Idris Husin, 71, was having a family picnic by the seaside in Kuala Muda, Kedah, when he noticed something unusual.
“The sea suddenly receded, exposing the seabed for about 1km,” he recalled.
“I began reciting the azan, but before I could finish, a powerful wave hit the area,” he said.
Fortunately, he was safe along with his family. They rushed home and took refuge on the second floor of their house, located near the beach.
“The first wave wasn’t that strong. As the water receded and the shore dried up, I saw a massive surge of water in the distance, with even the lighthouse submerged by the waves.
“Shortly after, a second wave hit. That’s when the true force of the disaster became clear,” Idris recalled.
Former fisherman Yusoof Awang, 60, said the first wave was as high as a coconut tree.
He considered himself lucky to have escaped unharmed.
“I managed to run to safety. From afar, I saw high waves coming from the middle of the sea, which then headed towards the mangrove forest in front of me,” he said, adding that his house, located about 200m from the beach, was destroyed.
Hamidah Che Rus, 60, recounted the harrowing experience of surviving the 2004 tsunami, a day that forever changed her life.
Her house, built just three months before that, was a mere 200m from the beach. It was destroyed.
A single mother of three, Hamidah had been at a neighbour’s house for a feast.
As she walked to the gathering, she noticed an odd “white line” in the sea but thought little of it.
It wasn’t until they were eating that a massive wave struck.
Amid the chaos, she managed to grab her 10-year-old daughter and bring her to safety.
Her two sons, who were in a nearby village, were also unharmed.
The fishing village of Kota Kuala Muda, located at the mouth of Sungai Muda, was among the hardest-hit areas in the 2004 tragedy, with 11 casualties.
Two years after the tsunami, over 100 survivors from that area were relocated to Taman Permatang Katong, a government-built housing area about 5km from Kampung Kepala Jalan.
Globally, more than 200,000 people lost their lives in the deadliest tsunami in modern history.
The highest death toll was recorded in Aceh province, Sumatra, with 163,795 fatalities, followed by Sri Lanka (35,399), India (16,389), Thailand (8,345), Somalia (298), and Malaysia (68).
