Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Southern Nevadans with relatives in South Asia seek word on their fate

CORRECTION -- 12/29/04
Alawala Subhuthi's name was misspelled in a Tuesday Review-Journal about Southern Nevadans with relatives in Southeast Asia.

Donna Kaluarachchi, 44, cries on Monday in her Las Vegas apartment as she explains what happened to her family in Sri Lanka after tsunamis pummeled the country. Her brother is missing and feared dead, and the rest of the family is counting on her to find work in the United States to send money home. Photo by John Gurzinski. Donna Kaluarachchi is one of about 500 Sri Lankans living in the Las Vegas area. Photo by John Gurzinski.

Las Vegan Donna Kaluarachchi is watching her ravaged country on the news. She said she can't turn it off, and yet she can't bear to see the images.

She said her brother Nanda might be dead. He lives in Galle, Sri Lanka, a historic seaport town popular with tourists that was hit hard by massive waves that followed the earthquake off Indonesia.

Another brother and his family have been left homeless.

Kaluarachchi got the news by telephone from her sister, who lives further inland, where most of the family is gathered.

She was told Nanda was going home from his job as a security guard for a local bank when the waves hit. "They say he got into the bus, and he's gone," Kaluarachchi said, sobbing. "I cannot even go to them."

Instead, she said, the family wants her to support them financially from the United States.

Kaluarachchi has barely left her rented room in southeast Las Vegas since she learned Sunday about the tsunamis that pummeled South Asia.

The 9.0 earthquake brought about tsunamis that struck the coast of the island nation of Sri Lanka with portions of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Somalia and Thailand. Nanda hasn't been confirmed to be among the dead, but the family presumes the worst.

About 10 Nevadans have contacted the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross since Sunday seeking information about relatives in the South Asia region. Many more Nevadans who have family and friends in the area are striving on their own to make contact.

"Some (of the families in Sri Lanka) are OK. Some have died and some have got damage," said Alawala Subuthi, temple master at Nevada Buddhist Vihara.

The temple, located at 2040 Abels Lane, is collecting food, clothing and other donations. Those who want to donate money to the American Red Cross can call 1-800-HELP NOW.

Subuthi was relieved to discover his own family in Galle was safe. Family members told him many joggers and boaters died.

"It is very close to the ocean. The town is almost finished. There is nothing," he said. "They (my family) are safe, but the houses are damaged."

There are about 500 Sri Lankans in the Las Vegas area, Subuthi said.

Many have reached out to the temple for help, including Kaluarachchi, 44, who said she lost her job at a Mobil gas station last week and is struggling to renew her working papers with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

She said Nanda's two daughters and wife relocated to the sister's house Sunday. Because the family needs to save money, they'll fax her any further information they receive on Nanda.

Kaluarachchi said if she cannot get her immigration status straightened out or find employment, she'll probably have to go back to Sri Lanka.

But for tourists, traveling to the region might be difficult, said Cherylayne Erdley, destination specialist for Asia at AAA Travel in Summerlin.

The most popular tourist hub in the region, Phuket, Thailand, was also ravaged. The tsunamis destroyed many coastal hotels and powdery beaches that make the city a popular location for visitors coming from Bangkok.

Several hundred Nevadans visit Phuket each year, Erdley said.

"The waves there are usually probably about half a foot high ... I mean it's not a place where you take your surfboard," she said.

The city of Las Vegas designated Phuket a sister city in the late 1990s, but a spokeswoman for Las Vegas was unable to describe what kind of relationship still exists between the two cities.

"It looks like the situation (in Phuket) is such that there are hundreds of confirmed dead and thousands missing," said Jonathan Galaviz, president of the Singapore Association of Nevada.

He spoke with a friend Monday morning who worked at a Phuket coastal resort and was flying to the United States when the waves destroyed his workplace.

"It's about 10 times the scale of the World Trade Center in New York," Galaviz said of the earthquake and its overall aftermath.

Nevada has an economic development office in Singapore staffed by three people who coordinate development between the Silver State and the South Asia region, he said.

Las Vegas companies that focus on tourism could become an asset in the multibillion-dollar process of rebuilding coastal areas, he said.

It's sad, he said, but there is an opportunity to make money off the tragedy.

"There are opportunities for Nevada businesses if they want to find business opportunities or if they want to help rebuild," he said. "Particularly since Nevada businesses have a tourism-sector focus."