WECT TV6 - WECT.com - Wilmington, NC news and weather - Disaster hits home for Wilmington doctor
Member Center:
Dr. Raja Baht talks about his homeland, Tamil Nadu
Looking for the 2009 WECT Collector' Calendar? Click here for a list of distributors.
Click here to read all the recent local news that matters most.
The latest news and sports from around North Carolina.
Up-to-the-minute news and sports from the southern half of the Carolinas.
Click here for today's continuously updated top national news stories.
DECEMBER 28, 2004-- It's a disaster no one can fathom. More than 76,000 people are now reported dead after the powerful Asian earthquake and tsunamis.
More than 7,000 are reported dead in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the homeland of Wilmington doctor Raja Bhat.
"I was just there last month and we had driven along the beaches right where the tsunami hit now and I couldn't believe it," says Dr. Bhat.
Dr. Bhat's parents still live in the capital of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, otherwise known as Madras. They were not harmed, but they are worried about some family friends, who haven't been heard from since the disaster.
"One family left our area and built a house not far from the beach. I can't help but wonder how they're doing. I don't know," says Dr. Bhat.
Dr. Bhat says most of the people affected on the beaches of Tamil Nadu are not wealthy. They are fisherman and marina workers. They lived along some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
"Very pretty, very beautiful, full of statues and gardens, walkways and promenades. I'm sure it's just been devastated now. Nobody knows what's going on, because it's all been cordoned off."
Dr. Bhat says aid is just now starting to reach the stricken areas. H e hopes Indian families in our area will also coordinate relief efforts.
Reported by Samuel King
