A tsunami that swept across the Pacific Ocean on December 26 and killed thousands moved residents to donate an unprecedented amount to local charities to assist with relief in thedevastated areas.

Reports of the tsunami ? from survivors and of the relief effort ? loomed large around the world and Bermuda was no exception ? over 30 articles appeared in alone.

First-hand accounts from residents who were in the area reached within a week of the natural disaster. David and Claire Lewis, who were on an around the world yacht race, happened to be in a Phuket, Thailand hotel room when the deadly waves struck.

?I heard this terrible noise and rushed onto the balcony to see a wall of water crashing through the ground floor of the hotel. People, garden furniture, deck chairs, tables and trees were just flying through into this great wash. Everyone was screaming,? Mrs. Lewis reported in an e-mail.

Jim and Holly Burnett-Herkes were snorkelling a cove shortly before the first wave hit. They survived because they were washed ashore and scrambled up a rock face where they spent several hours waiting for the water to subside. After surviving the harrowing experience the couple decided to stay in Thailand for a few weeks to help with clean-up operations.

Clare Allen Crook was in Sri Lanka getting a massage when her masseuse told her something was happening and to get her family off the beach. Mrs. Crook, a member of the Watlington family, managed to round up her family and get away from the beach.

After such a narrow escape, Mrs. Allen Crook decided, along with others, to start a charity to help raise funds for the area.

Rebuilding Sri Lanka was established and contacts were made in many villages thus beginning a grassroots campaign that included a two-month programme that supplied 144 fishermen with fishing catamarans, nets of various types of toilet facilities in 50 locations.

Survivors? stories and daily images of the destruction in the area spurred locals to pitch in and do anything they could to help out people half way around the world. Individuals, groups, companies and schools held fundraisers and donated money to help tsunami survivors.

In the first week after the tsunami, Bermuda raised $250,000 for the devastated area.

Silk restaurant chef Dewi Isnina was amazed by the Island?s relief effort. Her family lived on the Aech coast, which was heavily hit by the tsunami. Her family managed to survive. Even the restaurant raised funds to help survivors.

High stakes poker players also donated all their winnings to the Red Cross at a special charity game.

Another Bermudian resident decided to couple his love of the band Red Hot Chilli Peppers with his compassion for those affected by the tsunami. James Gerry paid $10,000 for a Fender Squire Stratocaster guitar autographed by the band on an online eBay auction.

The Island?s schools also held ?grub days?, bracelet drives and other fundraisers in order to raise money.

The level of giving was so large that it seemed the Island?s large charities were in a competition, which was good news for Indonesia. On January 6 the Salvation Army announced that 100 percent of its donations would go to the relief effort.

Director of Bermuda?s Red Cross, Ann Spencer-Arscott, said her charity had a hard time keeping up with the generosity of Bermudians and the phones rang off the hook for the entire month. She also said the charity would only be deducting bank and advertising costs from the donations they received with the remainder going towards the relief effort.