Okay, so I have this "brilliant beyond brilliant idea" (that's a quote from the Parent Trap, the one with Lindsay Lohan). No. That actually has nothing to do with my idea/my newest project. I mean, it's unlikely it'll ever come to anything or that I'll ever get around to doing it, but I thought it was a cool idea nonetheless.
So, Indonesia has fallen victim to two tsunamis in less than two years. We all remember well the December 26, 2004 event that ravaged southeast Asia, killing more than 200,000 people. There was another tsunami just days ago that killed more than 500 people, and more than 200 are still missing. Yes, that was a much smaller-scale tsunami, but it still claimed lives and I, for one, believe that those lives could have been saved.
MSN.com reported that "Indonesia has no nationwide tsunami warning system," but a Hawaii-based warning center and another warning center in Japan both issued warnings to Indonesia's government about the possibility of a tsunami, as a result of a magnitude 7.7 earthquake. An interior minister in Indonesia has said that while the government did receive the warnings, it merely text messaged 400 officials, and somewhere along the way, guess what? The message never got to the civilians who were on the 110-mile stretch of beach.

Okay, so now about the project. I was thinking, you know how a lot of beaches have public-notice signs, whether it's about a lifeguard not being on duty, or a "swim at your own risk sign" or whatever? Well, I was thinking that ever 1/2 mile of so on Indonesian beaches, we should just put up signs that list the warning-signs of tsunamis. There are very obvious signs-- like when the ocean recedes 1000 feet, or there's a red glow in the horizon, or the water is hot or bubbly or stings the skin, there is a smell of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide) or of petrol or oil, or there is a loud boom heard, or an earthquake is felt. Then, after listing the warning-signs the sign would advice people to head for higher ground immediately if any of these signs are noticed, and not to go into houses because tsunamis are often powerful enough to destroy houses completely.

I don't know. I don't have the money, resources or an Indonesian translator, so this will likely never happen, but I just thought that if the bureaucratic system is going to continue to cost people their lives, maybe we should just educate the public. I mean, it's not like tsunamis just happen. There are obvious warning signs that I think people would actually take notice of. Okay, that's my project. You can all procede to tell me how crazy I am in the comments section. :)