A Dubai classroom assistant has recounted the harrowing moments when she and her daughter were swept up by the devastating tidal waves that hit Thailand.
Katrina Rafferty, 47, and her 13-year-old daughter Natasha had to struggle desperately to survive after the tsunamis ploughed into the island of Phuket. The British pair said they found reserves of strength they never knew they had to escape after being swept into a building that was filled with water.
They are now safely back home in Dubai with nothing but bruises and scratches to show for their terrifying ordeal.
Katrina said before the first wave hit that the water retreated from Patong Bay in less than a minute.
"Everybody stared and was pointing at the bay. The water disappeared everyone was fascinated. Then all of a sudden the sand moved like it was rotating. Then the water just seemed to come out of the sand. It was like some monster television programme. We didn't have a chance.
"We just ran, but there was nowhere to run. We were just swept along by the water along with chairs, scooters and everything else," she said. The two were pushed into a seafront restaurant, where Katrina had to break free after being trapped by furniture.
"Then the next wave came and a car ended up on top of my daughter. She was submerged but a kind person went down and pulled her out. People were too stunned to scream. I was absolutely petrified. The water was up to the first floor balcony of a nearby hotel," Katrina said.
Eventually, the pair made it into the hotel and ran upstairs, spending the next two hours on the roof of the five-storey building. They were told to come down amid fears the building would collapse.
"Afterwards, it was just like a war zone. There were dead bodies everywhere. There were cars everywhere, but there was no debris it had just disappeared. Everything had gone out to sea and nothing came back. The whole thing is unbelievable," she said.
While the tsunamis hit Patong Beach, Katrina's husband, Graham, 48, and their sons Michael, 22, Matthew, 19, and Christopher, 17, were on a canoe trip on the other side of Phuket, oblivious to the drama unfolding on the island's west coast.
"My wife and daughter were so lucky to escape," said Graham, who works for a Dubai cable company. "It was about nine hours before we heard they were safe. I managed to phone her mother in the UK and Katrina did the same."
Gulf News
