Tsunami anniversary: 13 years on, memories still haunt Nagapattinam

As Nagapattinam district had accounted for 6,065 recorded deaths constituting 76 per cent of the entire casualties in the State, coastal communities particularly the fishing families emotionally recalled the day which devastated the lives and good fortunes of many people in the district. 

As rallies and moments of silence were widely observed across the district, at Nambiyar Nagar fishing hamlet, the grieved families of victims prayed to the sea with a firm belief that their missing relatives are alive somewhere across the globe. Several parents who had lost all their children paid an emotional tribute by purchasing new clothes for their perished wards, and flowers were also showered along the coastline near Akkaraipettai, Keechankuppam, Seruthur, and Samanthanpettai hamlets where the casualties were heavy. 

Meanwhile, in Veilankanni, Fr AMA Prabakar of Veilankanni Shrine Basilica, led a silent rally of locals on foot from the bus stand to a tsunami memorial located in the ECR near the Veilankanni arch. 

Earlier, in the Collectorate, a Tsunami Memorial Day was observed in which Minister OS Manian, Collector Suresh Kumar and others paid floral tributes at the tsunami memorial.