{"id":5693,"date":"2025-01-23T17:29:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/midland-chase\/?p=5693"},"modified":"2025-01-23T17:31:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:31:34","slug":"twenty-years-on-responding-to-the-biggest-natural-disaster-in-modern-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/midland-chase\/2025\/01\/23\/twenty-years-on-responding-to-the-biggest-natural-disaster-in-modern-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty years on: Responding to the biggest natural disaster in modern history"},"content":{"rendered":"

On\u00a0Boxing Day 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the Western Coast of Indonesia caused a series of deadly tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. It killed 230,000 people across at number countries and displaced 1.7m people. Twenty years on, it remains the biggest natural disaster in modern history<\/p>\n

In 2004 Regional President Jenny McLelland was a DC\/Family Liaison Officer (FLO) and volunteered to work in Thailand and help the country and its people begin to recover from the devastation<\/p>\n

Two decades on, over Christmas and New Year 2024\/5, and now a Superintendent, Jen returned to Thailand with her family. Here she reflects on her deployment, the work she was involved in and the personal and professional impact this had on her…<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, the journey began. I was a detective constable and one of West Midlands Police\u2019s first ever Family Liaison Officers (FLOs). I volunteered to work in Thailand in February 2005 in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami, and would stay in the country for 14 months.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Initially I worked in Bangkok, helping families coming through the airport. They were upset, devastated that they had left their family behind. Many did not know if their loved ones had been killed while identification took place. I also worked closely with the UK operation to identify our missing people through the casualty bureau.<\/p>\n

In May 2005 I was deployed as the Staff Officer for the Commander, Supt Derek Forest, who was a WMP officer and was in charge of the world identification of 3,500 bodies in containers.<\/p>\n

The work was demanding due to the heat. The internet and electricity would often go down but we would work through it.<\/p>\n

While the Thai communities were devasted, they were also the most wonderful people I have ever met. \u00a0Families were sitting in the temples, inches away from the post mortem sites. It was extremely moving, but I wanted to help and be a part of it.<\/p>\n

I went on to become part of the TTVI (Thai Tsunami Victim Identification) team, and the Lead for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Family Liaison and Repatriation. With 39 different countries working together at times it was extremely political. I attended a number of events with Ambassadors, Prime Ministers and Senior Thai Police.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While the emotional impact of the experience changed me forever, it was the best training I could ever have.\u00a0 On my return to England I focused on promotion and being a senior leader.<\/p>\n

Nothing was impossible in my mind anymore. No one would ever tell me I could not do something. I was more determined than ever to achieve whatever I wanted to do. In 2012 I had my little girl Darcey. I passed my Inspector\u2019s exam when she was six weeks old and started a Master\u2019s degree for three years.<\/p>\n

I also had an incredible knowledge of disaster victim identification (DVI). It enabled me to have the mind set of dealing with excess deaths and the importance of the \u2018humanitarian response\u2019. This would follow me through all of my roles and ranks in my career and was essential for WMP and the wider region during the Covid pandemic. Due to my experience, I was asked to lead on mortality and work with the Coroner, Army and Navy to provide the region with a facility to store the deceased. I worked to make sure we had the best facility across the country which treated those lost with the highest level of respect.<\/p>\n

In recognition of this work, \u00a0The King presented me with my Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) in October 2022. He asked me how I had got the experience to deliver what I did during the Covid Pandemic. I explained to him about the experience from the Tsunami which he was really interested in.<\/p>\n

Over the years I have kept in touch with many of my Thailand family from around the world and have used social media to keep in touch, watching their life journey from afar.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I recently returned, 20 years later and met colleagues from across the world, from the Foreign Office, police colleagues, families and other representatives from the 39 countries who originally worked together.<\/p>\n

I wanted to re-visit sites, locations, hotels, this time taking my husband and daughter and\u00a0showing them where I worked and what I did.<\/p>\n

The country is now better prepared. There are Tsunami warnings everywhere and the hotels are designed to keep their staff and guests safe.<\/p>\n

There was one person I really wanted to find when I returned. Twenty years ago I represented a family on Phi Phi Island<\/a>.\u00a0 A Thai man was married to an Irish lady and they had two children.\u00a0Sadly, the wife and children had all died, but worse still there was a mix up with the return of the bodies in the aftermath of the tsunami, before the police teams were involved.\u00a0 I continued to support this man and he has never left my heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We hired a speedboat and travelled to the island and I found the man\u2019s new wife and his 17-year-old daughter. Without words they knew who I was. I had never met them but the man had spoken of me.\u00a0\u00a0 He then appeared and greeted me with a big smile!\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He was so grateful I had returned.\u00a0Two butterflies which were different colours landed and his daughter referred to them as her little sisters who did not make it.\u00a0 My wish had come true. He had found happiness.\u00a0 My family on Phi Phi will forever in my heart!<\/p>\n

I would stand up and volunteer to do it all over again. I value life and experiences completely different now. I have always been driven by my staff, my people and my community. They are what is important. This is why I joined the police \u2013 to help people and make a difference. I will never forget this.<\/p>\n

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On\u00a0Boxing Day 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the Western Coast of Indonesia caused a series…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":735,"featured_media":5721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[68,66,69,67],"class_list":["post-5693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-club-news","tag-boxing-day-tsunami-2024","tag-jenny-mclelland","tag-region-president-simc","tag-thailand"],"yoast_head":"\n20 years on: Responding to the biggest natural disaster in modern history<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2024 claimed the lives of 230,000 people. 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