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Peaceful Galle, southern Sri Lanka coastal scene by moonlight, Sept. 2002, taken from our hotel balcony - those homes and much else behind them will have been wiped out by the tsunami that hit Galle especially hard on the morning of Dec. 26, 2004, killing thousands of local residents. Latest reports are that the water reached several kilometres inland before hitting low-lying hills. Note the swell in the ocean in this photo - the early monsoon was beginning to affect the tides, far out in the Bay of Bengal. Closenberg, the mid-19th century hotel from where this was taken, survived the destruction on Dec 26 due to its elevation