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- [00:00]
Narrator/Host (Cassie Depechel)
Wondery subscribers can listen to against the Odds early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
- [00:10]
Narrator/Storyteller
A Listener Note against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research. Wondry. Ed Moosh clutches his wife, Helen, as a second wave bears down on them. It's even bigger than the first one that hit just minutes ago. That wave ripped Helen from his grasp and sent them hurtling hundreds of feet toward the shoreline of Phi Phi Don island in Thailand. Ed still can't believe he managed to spot Helen when he surfaced. He just reached her amid all the floating debris. And now a second wave is approaching. He turns back to Helen. She looks at him with a blank stare. Did she hit her head? Is she in shock? Ed doesn't know, and there's no time to find out. The roar of the wave grows louder and louder. He takes a deep breath, squeezes Helen, and shuts his eyes. And then it hits them. It feels like Ed's taking a huge punch to the stomach. In a split second, he's underwater again, and he can feel his body ricocheting against the sea floor. He opens his eyes and sees dark shapes that could be trees or even people. Ed fights to keep hold of Helen, determined not to let this wave tear them apart like the first one did. He's terrified they're about to be hurled into something that will kill them the concrete foundation of one of the beachside hotels or a jagged piece of metal torn from a roof. Suddenly, their heads break the surface. They gasp for air. Ed's heart pounds as his lungs finally fill with oxygen. He looks around. They've been carried over the narrow strip of land that connects the two ends of Phi Phi Don. If they keep going, they'll be swept out to sea on the other side of the island from where they started. Then the wave pulls them under again and rips Helen once more from his arms. In our toughest moments, humans will fight to survive. But luckily we're not often in survival mode. Sometimes we can just sit back and enjoy the ride. And no one knows a comfortable ride like OnStar. Enjoy convenient features like Google Assistant to make calls or send texts on the go. Remember where you parked with vehicle locate and even drive hands free with available Super Cruise Driver assistant tech with OnStar. Your rise can be easier than ever. OnStar better never stops against the Odds is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash. Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. From Wondery I'm Cassie Depechel and this is against the odds On December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami caught hundreds of thousands of people by surprise. There was no warning system in place. Among the country's hardest hit was Thailand. Up and down the coast, residents and tourists found themselves swept away by the waves or battered by the debris, knocked loose as the water began to recede. The it left in its wake thousands who were injured, dying or already dead. This is Episode three Devastation. Watari Tongtae flails her arms trying to grab something, anything that will stop her from being swept away. The wave that snatched her two young daughters from her arms had pushed her inland, but now the current is reversing, pulling her into the ocean. Seconds ago she saw her 8 year old daughter Raatikan suspended above the raging water, caught on a clothesline tied between two buildings. Watiri tried to get to her, but the current was too strong. Watiri feels like a twig on a river, completely at the mercy of the current. She bangs up against something in the water. She can't tell what it is, but it feels stable. She grasps it and realizes it's a pull. She wraps her arms around it and holds on for dear life. The current is so fierce it pulls the shoes off her feet and the shirt off her back, but she hangs on. Finally, after several agonizing minutes, the current eases and the water level drops. The familiar contours of her village emerge, the balconies and rooftops. She presses her feet down and feels something solid against her soles. She can stand now. The water is only up to her chest. The water keeps receding and when it's down to her thighs, she starts to wade through the ruins of her village, desperate for any sign of Ratikan or her other daughter, three year old Sudiroth. She sees the road behind her house and she splashes toward it. She figures the first place her children would go is their home, Rati Khan Sudharat. She walks past bodies of the dead, past boats that have washed ashore, past an injured old woman who cries out for her help. But Wachiri is too determined to get home to stop. But then another survivor approaches her and grabs her arm. She tries to shake herself free of him, but he has a wild look in his eyes. There's another wave coming. We need to find higher ground. Guachary can't process this. Another wave. But she needs to get to her house to find her children. She tries to pull away, but his grip tightens. Did you hear what I said? We're dead if we don't move. Guachary doesn't answer. The man lets go of her arm and starts hurrying toward the doorway of the nearest house. He calls out over his shoulder, follow me if you want to live. Reluctantly, she trails after him. She wants to keep looking for her daughters, but she knows another wave will probably kill her. She follows the man inside the home and up a set of stairs to a room. She finds an open window and cries out her children's names. Rati Khan. Sudarat. And then she sees the wave barreling over the beach, the force of the water blowing indoors and propelling boats onto the streets of her village. Once again she hears screams from those swept up in the current. She looks around frantically, her eyes peeled for any sign of her daughters. She watches in terror as the water reaches the second floor where she stands. It's like the devil is hunting her down. Deep underwater. Ed Moosh fights to get to the surface, but he keeps pushing up against debris. His lungs burn from the lack of oxygen. He couldn't keep Helen safe, and now he's going to die. Streaks of light slip through the cracks between the wreckage that covers the surface. A sense of peace settles over him. He hears a voice in his head telling him the same thing over and over. It's okay. You did all you could. Then his arm brushes against something long and metallic that seems to stretch upwards. It's a section of black pipe. He grabs it, and with his last bit of strength he pulls himself up, hand over hand toward the surface. Just as he's about to breach the surface, he spots Helen, floating limply. Keeping one hand on the pipe, he stretches out and grasps her wrist, pulling her to him. Then he climbs again. Their heads break the surface at the same time. Ed gulps down air, but Helen has lost consciousness. She's breathing, but it's shallow. Ed shakes her. She stirs, muttering something he can't understand. He takes his free hand and slaps her across her cheek. HELEN Breathe. You need to breathe. Her eyes seem to focus on his, but just for a moment. Ed looks around desperately and sees that the metal pole is actually a propeller shaft. It's attached to the engine of a longtail boat. There's a man aboard, but he doesn't see them. Ed yells out, help us Help us into your boat, please, or we'll die. The long tail captain kneels on one of the boat's benches and extends his hand. Ed maneuvers Helen toward the man so he can get a hold of her. The captain heaves Helen aboard. For the first time in what seems like hours, Ed feels his heart rate slow. He hangs onto the side of the boat, trying to muster the strength to pull himself aboard. As he rests, he looks around in every direction. The water is covered with roofs, tires, furniture, trash and other debris. The waves have shaken entire hotels from their foundations, and still the current surges beneath him. Wooden planks scrape against the boat's hull. A young boy drifts by, face down in the water. Ed lets go of the boat to turn the boy over. He winces as he sees the boy's crushed chest, his vacant eyes. Ed wants to scream. He turns back to the boat. He has to get on board. He stretches both hands up to the side. He pulls and pulls, but he can't hoist himself over. He tries again, hauling his body up high enough to swing his leg over the side. And then finally, he's on board. Panting in exhaustion, he collapses onto the floor of the longtail next to Helen. She opens her mouth and a ragged whisper comes out. It hurts to breathe. Breathe anyway. Her breath comes in wheezes. She grimaces in pain. Ed's not a doctor, but he knows she needs oxygen. He has some on board Tahlequah, their boat that's anchored farther out in the bay. But there's so much debris choking the waters around them that he doesn't know if this longtail can get there. 13 year old Monica Ribeiro kicks her legs, trying to keep her head above water, but she's so tired she doesn't even know where she is. Is she out to sea somewhere on the mainland? It's impossible to say because she's surrounded by so much wreckage from the wave and the current has shifted directions so many times she's not sure where it's taking her. Her limbs feel like they've turned to lead. She doesn't know how much longer she can go on. She feels consciousness start to slip away. Monica has never been a religious person, but now she feels that God is with her, that he's here to protect her. She's certain that if she just asks for his help, he'll come to her. And so she yells out, God help me. Save me. At that moment, she looks to her left and sees a thin wire that's strung between two trees. The current is taking her in that direction. She reaches up and grabs the wire, feeling it dig into her fingers. It hurts, but she holds on as the current rolls past her. She ignores the pain as objects bash against her body. She pulls herself up more, hooking her elbows over the wire. She holds on and breathes. Finally, she can Olivia Su stares at her mother, who's lying 30 yards away on the shore of the Emerald Cave. Olivia's brother Edward is shaking her, but their mom's not moving. Olivia tries to get up to go over to them, but the world spins and she has to sit back down. When the wave crashed through the tunnel leading to the secluded beach, it slammed her head into the rock wall of the cave. Olivia must have blacked out, because when she woke up she was here on a rocky hillside. Her head has stopped bleeding, though she's still in pain and woozy. But she needs to get to her mom. She has to tell her the terrible news that moments ago Olivia saw her stepfather's dead body dragged from the water. She braces to try to get up again, but then her brother walks toward her. He looks like he's in a daze. What's happening with Mom? Is she okay? Edward sits down next to her. He takes a breath, and then he speaks. She stopped breathing. Olivia. She's gone. Olivia feels her stomach lurch and her throat constrict. She reaches a hand out and grasps Edward's forearm. No. No. She was just there with you. But Edward doesn't say anything. Tears well in Olivia's eyes. She thinks of the last conversation she had with her mother on the boat. Her mom wanted to stay on board while the rest of the family swam through the tunnel, but Olivia insisted that her mom join them. She kept pressuring her. Olivia thinks of the last words she ever heard her mother speak. I don't want to die. She buries her head in her hands and weeps. She doesn't know how she'll go on with those words echoing in her mind.
- [14:31]
Narrator/Host (Cassie Depechel)
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- [15:16]
Narrator/Storyteller
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- [15:17]
Narrator/Host (Cassie Depechel)
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- [15:54]
Narrator/Storyteller
Watcheri Tong Tae peers at the second floor window of the home where she's taken refuge. The water level, which climbed as high as the second story of this house, is finally dropping as the water returns to the ocean. The horrible sounds of destruction, trees snapping, houses collapsing, metal screeching have been replaced by a new sound, the wailing of survivors. Wacherie grips the windowsill, surveying the land. Her daughters are somewhere out there. The thought that she doesn't know where makes her wild with fear. She yells out the window, I've lost my babies. I've lost them. From across the street, or what remains of it, she hears a voice. She looks across and sees a woman on a balcony in the house opposite. Everything will be okay. The statement strikes Wuachary as absurd. Her children are missing. They might be dead. Her husband is out to sea and he might be dead too. Nothing is okay. The woman across the street tells her to find some clothes, and Watiri realizes she's nearly naked. She goes back into the room and rifles through a dresser until she finds a shirt and shorts. The woman has vanished from the balcony, but as Wachery looks down the street, she sees more survivors emerging from their houses and poking their heads out of windows. She calls out her daughters names. Rati Khan, Sudharat. From a house down the street, a woman waves to her. I saved a little girl. The woman disappears from the window and Wachiri stares, frozen, waiting for her to come back. Agonizing seconds pass and then finally, a face appears through the open window. It's Ratikan. Her oldest daughter is alive. Guachary falls to her knees. It's a miracle. Ed Moosh grips the side of the longtail boat, his eyes wide. An upside down steel fishing vessel is heading straight toward them. Ed calls out to the longtail's captain, we need to move or we're going to get hit. But the captain is leaning over the side of the longtail, trying to help another survivor onto the boat. The survivor, an older man, is weak, and the captain can't lift him alone. Ed climbs over one of the benches, and together he and the captain raise the old man onto the boat. Ed looks again at the fishing vessel that's drifting towards them. He grabs the captain's arm and points. They're still surrounded by so much debris that Ed wonders if the longtail can even maneuver through it. But they have to try. Otherwise they're going to get rammed and end up in the water. Suddenly, Ed hears a voice calling out for help. He swivels his head and sees a young woman clinging to a splintered piece of wood. She's about 15ft away. Help me, please. The woman lifts the piece of wood out of the water and stretches it toward Ed. He strains to reach the end of the wood, but it's too far. I can't reach it. But keep kicking. You'll make it. Ed considers jumping in and swimming to the woman, but his legs feel like they're made of cement. His arms, too. He remembers how hard it was to get into the boat the first time. He looks at Helen lying on the floor of the longtail, her breath raspy. Who will take care of her if he drowns? He turns back to the woman. Just hold on. She's getting weaker. Ed can see that. But there's nothing he can do for her. The capsized fishing vessel is still bearing down on them, probably just 20 yards away. He calls out again to the captain and points at the approaching ship. The captain nods and pulls the starter cord of the motor, and the boat revs to life. The long tail winds its way through the debris away from the path of the oncoming vessel. Soon the sounds of the young woman's cries for help are lost in the noise. Ed can't bear to look back. Monica Ribeiro is stuck. The water is receding, heading back to the ocean. But it's leaving behind tons and tons of detritus. She's still gripping the wire that's stretched over her head, but the rest of her body is wedged between a dresser and an old door. She releases her grip from the wire and pushes against the wooden dresser. It's no use. There's nowhere for it to move. She's trapped.
- [20:45]
Narrator/Host (Cassie Depechel)
Help.
- [20:46]
Narrator/Storyteller
Someone please help me. She looks around and sees a few people standing outside the path of the receding water. She takes a deep breath and yells as loudly as she can. Help. Help me. A few heads turn Toward her, but they quickly look away. She yells again, but no one responds. She realizes they're probably looking for their own family members. She's on her own. Then she has an idea. She can't move forward or backwards, but maybe she can go up. She grabs the wire again and pulls, groaning as she lifts her body above the wreckage. Finally, she's free. She carefully steps on the dresser that had trapped her. Using the wire to keep her balance, she makes her way inland atop the debris. After a few steps, the water gets shallower and soon she's walking on dry land. She looks around. It's utter devastation. Khao Lock has been leveled. One hotel is still standing, but the water has lodged a mountain of refuse against one of its walls. Monica gags as she makes out bodies in the pile. A young man comes up to her. It's the first person who's talked to her since the wave hit them. How long ago? 10 minutes, a half hour. She has no idea. Then he tells her to run to higher ground. Another wave is coming. Ed Moosh crouches down near his wife Helen, who's lying on the floor of the longtail boat. A few other weary survivors huddle nearby. The longtail captain was able to maneuver around the capsized fishing vessel that was headed towards them. But moving through the debris is slow going. Helen's breathing is shallower, and Ed is growing panicked. They need to get help for her as fast as possible. There's oxygen aboard Tahlequah, but Ed has no idea if their boat or their grandson Michael survived the waves. He looks back at the shore. Nothing remains. If the Tahlequah is destroyed, their next best bet is to go toward the open sea. Hopefully, they'll find some rescue ships, but it's a risky journey. Although the big waves have passed, smaller ones still rock the boat, knocking floating debris into the hull. But the real problem is the longtail's propeller. It sits at the end of a long, black metal pipe, and every time the captain lowers it into the water, it gets snagged on someplace. Palm fronds, clothing, pieces of rope. Each time it happens, the captain raises the propeller out of the water and Ed stretches out over the stern to help free it. At one point, the captain lifts the propeller and Ed sees that it's caught on the shirt of a man who's floating face down. Ed reaches over and tugs the propeller loose, closing his eyes so he doesn't have to see yet another dead body. Ed is haunted by the people. They haven't been able to reach, including the young woman who begged him to help her. He can still hear the cries of some survivors they've left behind. He tries to quiet his conscience and focus on getting Helen to safety. After 10 minutes of weaving through the debris, they emerge onto open water. The screams of the survivors they couldn't reach grow fainter until all Ed can hear is the growl of the motor. One of the survivors aboard yells out, look. Ed sees a large sailing vessel that appears to be heading toward the island. Ed hopes this ship has medical equipment on board. If it doesn't, he worries that his wife won't survive.
- [24:51]
Narrator/Host (Cassie Depechel)
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- [25:22]
Narrator/Storyteller
This message comes from Capital One. The Capital One venturex business card has no preset spending limit, so the card's purchasing power can adapt to meet business needs. Plus, the card earns unlimited double miles on every purchase, so the more a business spends, the more miles earned. And when traveling, the VentureX business card grants access to over a thousand airport lounges. The venturex Business card what's in your wallet? Terms and conditions apply. Find out more@capital1.com venturexbusiness. Doctor Wu Hui Natai shuts the door behind him as he steps out of the one room house where he lives on the campus of Tau Koapa Hospital. It's about six miles inland from the village of Nam Kemp. This is the third ambulance siren he's heard in the last 10 minutes, so he's decided to cut his lunch break short and see what's going on. He wonders if maybe there's been a bad crash on the nearby highway. It happens all the time. As he walks across the courtyard toward the emergency room, he hears yet another siren. He breaks into a jog. When we know Tai pushes through the swinging doors of the emergency department. He stops in his tracks. The room is crammed with people, many dripping wet, some of them naked under the hospital towels. Every chair is taken, several occupied by patients with limbs twisted at sickening angles. Blood is smeared across the tile floor. Dozens more patients lean against the walls or lie splayed on the floor. Others are double over, their bodies wracked with vomiting fits. When they straighten up to catch their breath, Winotai sees black puddles at their feet. He rushes up to the admitting nurse, who's trying to take information from a line of patients at her window. What happened? The nurse barely looks at him. They say it's a tidal wave. A tidal wave? Winotai thinks it must have been massive to have caused so many injuries. He moves into the examination area and sees patients everywhere, filling every available bed. Huinutai gets to work. The hospital has long had a mass trauma plan in place. It involves dividing the medical staff into teams. One team to assess the patients, another team to treat the critically injured. The problem is that they're short staffed. At least four of the hospitals, 15 doctors are away on vacation, and there are only 20 nurses. He hopes that some of the ones who live in nearby Nam Khem will come in. But then he overhears someone talking about the little coastal village. That it's been destroyed. He can't imagine it destroyed. The scream of sirens intensifies, and he goes back out to the emergency room. The doors to the loading area are open, and he sees a pickup truck screech to a stop. At least a dozen more wounded stagger out from the bed of the truck. Just then, another vehicle pulls up. With more patience, Huinutai looks around. How are they going to treat everyone who needs help? Monica Ribeiro runs uphill on a stone path. She has to put as much distance as she can between herself and the water. As she makes her way to higher elevation, the foliage grows thicker. Huge banyan and rubber trees tower over her. Jagged rocks dig into the bare soles of her feet, hindering her progress. Around her, dozens of people are also on the path, desperate to escape the wrath of the water. Monica looks up as an elderly Thai woman passes her. She's not moving fast, but she's steady. Monica marvels at the woman's endurance. Then she notices that, like Monica, the old woman is also barefoot. But she's walking off to the side of the path where the soft ferns cushion her feet. Monica moves to the side, following the woman's footsteps. She silently thanks the woman for showing her an easier path. The trail stops at a road, and just as Monica reaches it, a pickup truck pulls up. People pile in. Monica doesn't know where it's going, but she doesn't care. She has to get out of here. She hoists herself into the back of the truck. The sun beats down, and the floor of the truck scalds her skin. But she decides that the pain is proof she's still alive. Then the driver gets out and starts gesturing and speaking rapidly in Thai. Monica doesn't understand, but gathers that he's headed down to the beach to look for more survivors. Monica doesn't hesitate. She gets out of the truck and crosses the road where the path continues further up the mountain. She can't get high enough. Monica trudges further up the path. It's so steep and she's so exhausted that her legs almost give out. But still, she won't stop. Wiman Tongtae steers his damaged longtail boat into the familiar waters off the coast of his village. He's getting closer to home now, where he can finally look for his family. It's almost 1pm and his journey back to Nam Khem has taken longer than he'd hoped. In the rough seas, his boat finally cracked. It's been taking on water, not so much that it's sinking, but it's slowed them down. It's been touch and go as he and his brother Prakong made their way the six miles up the coast to their village. When they're about half a mile from shore, Wiman hears cries over the roar of the motor. Help. Help. He turns and sees two men clinging to a capsized longtail. With each wave that rolls under them, their grip on the boat slips. They motion with their arms to get Wuim's attention. For a moment, Wiman considers passing them by, but he can see how exhausted they are. One more big wave and they'll slip into the water and drown. He turns the tiller to see if he can rescue them. Slowly, he edges his boat closer to the men. The waves are still big, several feet in height. Each swell provokes a horrible creaking from his boat. When he's 20ft from the men, he decides he can't go any closer. Swim to me. We'll lift you aboard. The men drop into the water, swimming around the debris that is collected near the remains of their destroyed longtail. They can barely lift their arms, and they move slowly, but they cover the distance to Wiman's boat. He and Prakong lift them aboard, and they collapse. But both men, one about 40, the other probably still a teenager, manage to lift themselves up and bow to Wiman in thanks. Wiman points his boat back toward Nam Khem. From here, he can already see that the village has been decimated. His boat groans as if it too knows what lies ahead. Wiman prays to Buddha that his boat stays intact long enough for them all to reach land so that he can start the search for his wife and daughters.
- [33:11]
Narrator/Host (Cassie Depechel)
If you like, against the odds, you can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on app podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondering.com survey.
- [33:31]
Narrator/Storyteller
This is the third episode of our four part series tsunami in Thailand. A quick note about our scenes. In most cases we can't know exactly what was said, but everything is based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about the scene event, we recommend the books Wave of Destruction by Eric Krause Rising above the Wave by Edward Mouch Surviving a tsunami at 13 by Monica Ribeiro Connolly and the television series Race Against Time directed by Daniel Bogado Produced by the National Geographic Channel. I'm your host Cassie Depechel. Steve Fennesee wrote this episode. Sound design by Rob Schieliga. Audio engineer is Sergio Enriquez. Original theme music Scott Velasquez and 2K for freeze on sync Fact checking by Alyssa Jeong Perry produced by Emily Frost. Managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Senior producers are Andy Herman and Austin Rackless. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman and Marshall Louie for wondering.
- [34:44]
Steve Nash
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