``We called Sunday, and nothing,'' Subramanian Kumar said. ``We just couldn't get through.''

On Monday, the Kumars called Chennai, formerly known as Madras, and got relief - they learned all their relatives were spared from the disaster that killed tens of thousands of people.

``This is truly devastating,'' Subramanian Kumar, 53, said. ``The wave did not come in too much from the shore. For the people by the shore, there was no time. They are all gone. One saw the swell, and then the sea is all over them the next moment.''

The Kumars, who moved to Tampa in 1990, are among Tampa's Indian population of more than 6,300, according to the 2000 U.S. census. Many are slowly getting news from family members amid the chaos. Others are taking action to help the people back home.

Tampa physician Kiran Patel, a prominent philanthropist and chairman of the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding in Tampa, will match monetary donations through Jan. 7 with an emphasis on rushing medical attention, water and other necessities to India's east coast communities ravaged during Sunday's tsunami.

Patel and his wife, pediatrician Pallavi Patel, traveled Dec. 22 to the western coastal state of Goa in India and were in the country during the tsunami.

Kirin Patel called home Tuesday from India to set up the fundraising drive, telling his foundation's executive director, Sigrid Tidmore, that they must help the Tampa Bay community raise money.

``We've got to do this,'' Tidmore recalled Patel telling her.

The money will go to the Patels' other foundation, Shakit Krupa, or Blessings, in India, where administrators will hire charities to have drivers bring water to survivors or help get doctors to affected areas.

The couple made news this year with the opening of the Patel Performing Arts Conservatory, to which they donated $5 million.

For Lata Kumar, 43, the sight of the ravaged shores took her back to her childhood. Lata said she would play with her sisters on the beach, walking portions of an 8-mile stretch.

``We would go to that area often,'' she said. ``There were times when I would go for an early morning beach bath. There are always people walking and playing. This takes place in the morning, when this all happened.''

Kumar said the fishermen's village in Chennai is not there anymore. He said the area was similar to Clearwater beaches.

``These people lived on the seashore,'' he said. ``There was construction there. It's demolished.''

This catastrophe is on the minds of all Indians visiting NS Foods & Gifts, an Indian grocery on Hanley Road. The owners, Vijaya and Nagu Shankar, said the Indian community is in mourning.

``There is a lot of unity,'' Shankar said. ``The country is all together.''

If You Go

WHAT: Interfaith service for tsunami victims

WHEN: 7 p.m. today Dec. 30

WHERE: Unitarian Universalist Church of Clearwater, 2470 Nursery Road, Clearwater

FOR INFORMATION: Call the Rev. Abhi Janamanchi at (727) 531-7704 cq or Ahmed Bedier at (813) 731-9506 cq.

To Donate

American Red Cross