Sri Lanka Tsunami Survivors Saved by Colonial Past
Date: 27-Jan-05
Country: SRI LANKA
Author: Simon Gardner
When giant tsunami waves crashed into the southern port town on the morning after Christmas, thousands who live around the picturesque UNESCO world heritage site on the Indian Ocean island's southwest tip were swept to their deaths.
But within the hefty stone ramparts of the fort, whose winding narrow streets and rickety buildings have barely changed for centuries, many of its 1,500 mostly Muslim residents like Samsudeel were oblivious to the mayhem going on outside.
"We are very grateful to history," he said, setting up his stall of wooden Buddha carvings and trinkets, hoping against hope for absent tourists to appear and buy his wares. "If it weren't for these walls, a lot of property and lives would have been lost."
"The Dutch made these walls for security hundreds of years ago, and they are still protecting us now, our livelihoods and lives," he added, standing on ramparts as much as 15 metres (50 foot) thick and more than 10 metres high in some places.
The fort was built on a promontory by the colonial Dutch in 1663 on top of a smaller one built by the Portuguese, and sprawls over 36 hectares (90 acres). Galle was then Sri Lanka's most important port, and Muslim traders dominated the fort itself.
The Dutch ruled from 1658 to 1795, when the British took over and ruled until independence in 1948. The Dutch East India Company's insignia is still etched in stone above the fort's old gate.
Inside, there are old Dutch churches and houses in varied degrees of disrepair. While the tsunami waves sloshed over one part of the ramparts and left some houses ankle-deep in water, there was very little damage.
Residents say one man who was standing on the ramparts when the tsunami hit was swept to his death. He was the fort's only victim. Outside the ramparts, more than 4,000 people perished in Galle alone and an estimated 40,000 across Sri Lanka.
The waves swirled around the fort's walls, and ploughed into the town behind it, destroying shops and houses and levelling buildings -- a scene echoed all along Sri Lanka's south, east and northern seaboard and around the Indian Ocean's rim.
Architects who inspected the rubble of devastated towns along Sri Lanka's southern coast said only buildings made with reinforced concrete and old churches made from heavy stone were left partially standing. Less solid structures were flattened.
Factory worker and fort resident Ahmed Ahsan, 23, was watching Sri Lanka play cricket against New Zealand on television when the power died and sea water welled into his living room. He rushed outside, climbed onto the fort's walls and saw Galle under water.
"I was scared. I could hear people screaming," he said, pointing to a water mark on the side of his family's house. "We were saved because they built the walls so high... We also believe that Allah saved us."
