Necessity Fosters Ingenuity

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was a huge calamity affecting millions but it also produced examples of human ingenuity under any conditions. Here is one example.

On December 26, 2004, a massive tsunami washed around the land masses surrounding the Indian Ocean. The US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that in Indonesia's Aceh province in Northern Sumatra, waves reached 167 feet (51 meters) and caused flooding up to three miles (five kilometers) inland. On the other side of the ocean, in Somalia, waves ranged in height from 11 to 31 feet (3.4 to 9.4 meters). Official reports of the death toll for all affected areas maxxed at 230,000. Local reports, given to members of the Veritas Chronicles team working in the area at the time, told a far worse story, that from Banda Aceh alone more than one million people were swept out to sea and never recovered. The death, displacement, and housing crisis that followed led to enormous aid efforts from many countries. Meanwhile, locals had to find ways to survive. Here is one example of entrepreneurial ingenuity, making the most of a bad situation. A beached container ship forms an ideal shelter for a makeshift marketplace and gathering spot.