Tsunami: Race Against Time

I genuinely believe everyone should watch this documentary.

It's hard to understand the full scope of this disaster until you do. I never realized this tsunami killed a quarter of a million people.

The documentary wasn't pure "doom and gloom." Periodically, this documentary surprises you with people who survived unbelievable odds. Seeing them reunited with their families is extremely heartwarming.

The amount of "new footage" is stunning. Other pieces of media about this disaster focus on Thailand, but 170,000 people in Indonesia lost their lives.

This documentary should make you feel hopeful about humanity. The amount of people who stepped up to save complete strangers is staggering. It reminds you that every day you spend alive is a lucky day.

I think it's an incredible documentary and shows lots of perspectives on this disaster. Still, I wish it was longer and covered all the countries hit. It was covering them sequentially, but suddenly it stops following that timeline. It's a missed potential for sure.

One interesting approach was to show the pacific tsunami warning center perspective on the earthquake. Shows how many things had to be improved in earthquake and tsunami detection and warning centers. In my country in Brazil, especifically my state Rio Grande do Sul, we also went through an unprecedented flood disaster last year and we also didn't have a proper detection nor warnings, getting hit by a disaster suddenly when you're just having a normal day is terrifying. I can only imagine the terror people faced on the tsunami, as it is many times worse.

That said, i really enjoyed all the episodes and i loved the format they chose for it. Quality wise it's top notch and extremely empathetic to the places covered.

As many others have noted, this could have been a longer series in order to include more of the sites that were devastated. Still, it was a very encouraging view - one that gave hope as we saw people helping each other, lost family being found, people surviving injuries, and the eventual establishment of an Indian Ocean Warning System. I was pleased with the approach of letting survivors talk and enhancing their descriptions with video. Is it complete? No. Does it show the lengthy process of recovery? No. But it is a different view that adds considerably to the documented history. I suggest watching all 4 episodes in one sitting.

When i was 7 years old,,,, i was in sunday school every one came out of houses with fear my mom took me from sunday school i was cried loud and she picked me up said don't worry iam from fisherman family that day lot of men went to fishing Thank god tsunami not hit my village every one safe But that fear it was created in 2004 dec 26 still in my mind today 2024 dec you know every year on Dec 26 my village preys to the sea that don't repeat this incident again , save us save this world , show kindness on us.... By the way iam from peda jalari peta visakhapatnam, India.

Sarvejanah sukhino bhavanthu.

Throughout this beautifully done series, we see many people stepping up to the plate to help others, grieve over losses, express joy for miracles. And then there is a man whose story is so negative, it is strange that he is proud enough of his actions to be featured in this series. Beyond comprehension that he probably still does not understand how selfish his actions were. When finding himself in the middle an immense disaster, and being someone who has power - instead of reaching out to others, he uses his power to remove himself from the immediate situation and then uses the opportunity to further his career. Unbelievable.