PROVIDENCE -- It wasn't until hours after she and her brother escaped
the flooded streets surrounding their hotel in a southern Sri Lankan
beach resort that Jenna Wood realized what she had survived.
The 24-year-old Warwick resident was getting ready to return from a
vacation with her older brother, Andrew, when tsunamis smashed into the
southern, eastern and northern shores of the island, submerging entire
towns and villages and destroying hotels.
"We were right in the middle of this immense, tragic situation and we
didn't know it," Wood told The Associated Press. "All we knew was that
the electricity was out and the roadways were flooded. Our driver was
persistent, though. He wanted to get us out of the area. And fast."
Wood, an English major at the University of Rhode Island, said the
reality of what happened didn't begin to sink in until the siblings
arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, and saw the images of dead
bodies, stray luggage, furniture and upturned cars on CNN.
"I'm glad I didn't know what was going on because I probably would've
had a lot of anxiety," she said.
As of today, the Sri Lankan government reported 24,700 dead from
Sunday's quake-tsunami catastrophe, with the count continuing. The death
toll across the Indian Ocean region rose to 114,000.
The first giant wave hit the shore near Wood's hotel, which was perched
on a hill in the resort town of Bentota, when the siblings were still
asleep. They woke up to find flooded streets and no electricity, but
didn't think the situation was extraordinary.
They finished up their packing and went to breakfast, waiting for a
driver to take them to the airport in Colombo, about 40 miles north.
Their Christmas beach holiday over, Andrew Wood was headed back to his
home in Bahrain, where he works for a private company that has a
contract with the U.S. Defense Department; Jenna Wood was going home to
Rhode Island.
When the driver arrived at the palm-fringed resort, Jenna Wood said he
was insistent that they leave quickly.
"He said, 'Get your stuff. We have to leave now. There's been a big
flood,"' she recalled.
They piled into the car and left, forced to return minutes later because
a brick wall had collapsed into the road and other debris blocked their
path.
Rumors of tidal waves and earthquakes now swirled around the resort.
"People were thinking we should get out of here, but it wasn't a
pressing thing," she said.
About two hours later, the driver returned, declaring the trio would
take side roads to Colombo, but had to evacuate.
"He had been in the Sri Lankan Air Force and he took an oath that he
would protect other people with his own life, if he had to, he said. He
spent all day with us trying to bring us to safety," Wood said. "We owe
our lives to him."
Wood and her brother finally reached the capital, but missed their
scheduled flights home. They checked in to the Hilton, where they met up
with other tourists from their Bentota resort.
"They said after we left, a second wave hit. They saw cars floating in
the road and water slam into the hotels down the hill," she said. "At
that point, I became freaked out that it could happen again. I was
scared and nervous."
Wood said her brother contacted the pair's parents. She said prayers
from them and her father's church - he's a minister at the Asbury United
Methodist Church in Warwick - helped.
"We're both people of faith," said the Rev. Brian Wood. "We prayed a
lot, comforted each other."
Jenna Wood arrived in Rhode Island last night.
"I definitely feel lucky to be alive," she said.
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