Imagine playing cricket on the beach with your friends. The sun is shining, the sand is warm, and everything seems normal. That’s what Yusuf, now a motor rickshaw driver, was doing when a huge earthquake under the ocean caused a massive tsunami to strike the coast of India. It was December 26, 2004, and the event would change his life forever.

“I remember seeing boats tossed by waves, ” Yusuf recalls, “then a dark wall of water rushed towards us. We panicked and ran to higher ground. ” Yusuf was one of the lucky ones. Over 10, 000 people in his state alone didn’t make it.

Jaya, now 44, also remembers that day. She was home with her three kids when the water started to rise. “The waves got higher and higher, ” she says. “I grabbed my kids and we ran. No one knew what was happening. ” Jaya’s husband was out fishing and never returned.

After the disaster, the government worked to repair and rebuild communities. New houses were built, and protective embankments were put in place. But the memories still linger. “The stones protecting the coast don’t hold up anymore, ” says Kuppi Ratnam, a fisherman. “We asked the government to fix it, but it’s still a problem. ”

Though progress has been made, the scars of the tsunami are still visible. Abandoned houses and damaged embankments serve as reminders of the tragedy. “We can’t forget, ” says A. Subramaniyam, a fisherman who lost two children. He holds a photo of them, smiling, as if nothing bad would ever happen.

Decades later, the people of Nagapattinam still commemorate the disaster. Every December, they remember the lives lost with a minute’s silence, offering milk to the sea, and flowers at the graves of the deceased. “We can’t change what happened, ” says G. Ramesh, showing the water height mark on his house. “But we can remember and honor those who were lost. ”

India's Coastal Families: Life After the 2004 Tsunami

Actions