Testing of Tsunami siren at Kuala Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau by Penang Meteorological Department on 24/11/14.
GEORGE TOWN: The posts reach high into the sky by the side of rivers leading to the sea.
Speakers stick out of the poles, like fruits on a tree, while some poles have solar panels attached.
The poles look out of place in an area where fishing boats float gently and beach-goers enjoy the sea and surf.
But they are there for a reason – a very serious one. These are tsunami warning sirens.
The speakers are weatherproof and at least twice a year, they are tested, emitting a low-pitch blare that will barrel over every sound you can hear.
Over the years, locals have learned to recognise the warning signal. When they sound for real, it means a tsunami is on the way and everyone nearby should run as far inland as possible.
Millions of ringgit was spent to install these sirens on almost every publicly accessible seafront in Penang and Kedah after the 2004 tsunami killed a total of 64 people in the two states – 52 in Penang and 12 in Kedah.
When the tsunami first hit, hardly anybody knew what a tsunami was, but the survivors and first responders who saw it will never forget it.
“The sea suddenly went away, exposing the seabed far from shore.
“Just a few minutes later, the sea came rushing back at an unbelievable speed.
“I remember screaming for everybody to run from the beach, but the sea came back so quickly, and so many people at the beach were washed away and never came back,” said A. Suppiah, 75, who runs a restaurant near Miami Beach in Batu Ferringhi.
Miami Beach is a public one where at least 15 people died.
The first gigantic wave on Dec 26, 2004 ripped open the wall of his seaside bedroom, flooded the room and washed away his then 22-day-old baby, still asleep on her little mattress.
His hip was fractured by the force of the first wave, but he braved the pain to search for his baby.
A few minutes later, a second tidal wave smashed into Batu Ferringhi, miraculously bringing his baby almost right back to his arms, still asleep on the wet mattress.
“I held her and I just cried,” Suppiah recalled.
The baby, S. Thulaashi, is now a 20-year-old accounting student at Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The family holds Indian thanksgiving prayers by that beach every Dec 26.
Thulaashi could not make it yesterday because she had campus exams, but she fully knows why she is called the “tsunami miracle baby” – and is grateful for every day of her life.
