The memories are still vivid for Sylvia as she recalls the last time she gazed into her two-year-old daughter’s eyes.
On a typical morning in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Sylvia and her husband witnessed people rushing past their home, warning them about the approaching sea water.
Clutching her daughter Siti, Sylvia was quickly engulfed by the waves that flooded their home.
“I cannot find the words to describe the moment when I locked eyes with her, knowing we were about to be separated,” Sylvia shared with Al Jazeera.
As the tsunami swept Siti away, the heartbreaking separation left Sylvia in despair.
After enduring a harrowing 15 minutes submerged in the waves, Sylvia found refuge on a rooftop where the enormity of her loss sank in.
Reunited with her husband, Budi Permana, a week later in Medan, 600km away from their demolished home, the couple never found any trace of Siti.
As they mark the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the couple’s grief lingers with the world.
![Achenese men walk amid the debris of their devastated houses following the 2004 tsunami at a housing complex in Kajhu on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, in this April 3, 2005 file photo. A massive undersea earthquake is long overdue beneath the Mentawai islands in Ind... [File: Steve Crisp/Reuters]</figcaption></figure>
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‘They tend to just destroy everything’
Early on December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake off Indonesia’s west coast triggered devastating tsunamis, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
As the world reflects on the 20th anniversary, experts caution against growing complacent in the face of recurring tsunamis.
