By Alex Rinfret--Masset resident David Phillips was extremely relieved when he heard from his friend Thom "Huck" Henley, a former islander who was in Thailand when the monster Boxing Day tsunami hit.
Mr. Phillips said Mr. Henley missed the devastation by the narrowest of margins, boarding a plane at the Phuket airport just 20 minutes before the tsunami swamped the area.
Mr. Henley, who helped set up the Rediscovery camp here and now runs a "Reef to Rainforest" project in Thailand, was flying with his crew to northern Thailand, Mr. Phillips said. But he returned almost right away to the southern part of the country to help with the disaster relief effort.
While Mr. Henley and all his crew are fine, he lost the resort he had been managing in Krabi, near Phuket, Mr. Phillips said.
"It's all gone, every stick of it," he said.
Another former Masset resident, Barbara McLean, was in Thailand working with Mr. Henley. Mr. Phillips said she told him she had decided to stay on in Phuket instead of flying north with the rest of the crew and was drinking lemonade on a deck when she found herself in water up to her waist. She too has joined the relief effort, he said.
Queen Charlotte residents Eugene McKenzie and Kristy Lorieau also had a narrow escape, leaving the Phuket area four days before the tsunami. On Dec. 26 the couple were off the eastern coast of Thailand, on Ko Samui. The tsunami hit the western coast.
Mr. McKenzie said they didn't feel the earthquake, although they heard about it right away on the local news. They returned to the Charlottes on Jan. 1.
Meanwhile, islanders are responding to the disaster with fundraising dances, loonie auctions and donation drives. The village of Masset is donating $500, said mayor Barry Pages, and is also donating the community hall for a coffee house on Saturday (Jan. 8). All money raised at the coffee house will go to the Red Cross or other Canadian relief groups. The Canadian government will match donations made to these groups before Jan. 11, Mr. Pages said.
Port Clements will also be donating $500 to the relief effort, mayor Dale Lore said.
In Queen Charlotte, volunteers set up a donation table at the New Years Eve family dance which raised $477, said Judy Hilgemann. That amount is being sent to the Red Cross and will be matched by the federal government, making a total donation of almost $1,000.
That's just from one little night," she said. "It was good to do it, you just feel like you have to do something. I know a lot of people are feeling that way.
The Roots and Shoots group is holding a garage sale and loonie/twoonie auction Saturday to raise money for the Red Cross on Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm at the United Church Annex in Queen Charlotte.
Masset sisters Tota Mendez and Luisa Marshall (the award-winning "Tiny Tina") will be doing a free performance with their band in Vancouver Jan. 13 as part of a benefit show.
Ms Mendez, who is originally from the Philippines, said she has been devastated by the scenes from southeast Asia, and appealed to islanders to donate whatever they can.
"Even $10 from anyone on the islands would help so much," she said. The Philippines were not affected by the tsunami, she said, but the entire region shares a lack of technology that makes communication and rescue efforts challenging.
"It's not like over here where everything is so up to date," she said. "We're all lucky to be in Canada, in a wayÂ… It's something for people to think about, we are fortunate here."